Middlefocus

Following up the last post on Leadership, I have used the same What's in a word? technique to explore the theme of employee engagement. Here goes: E : Whether Employee or Employer , both have Expectations N : Certainly both employer and employee have Needs that must be met G : This can be for Goals and for the truly engaged might mean Going the extra mile A : Might have to do with Action or Aspiration but here I want to use the term Attitude G : An employee may want a career plan. They will want to Grow that career E : Another E. Engaged people seem to get Enjoyment from their work M : Might have to do with Mission or Making a Difference , think Magnificent ! E : Another one? Good job we have terms like Enthusiasm ; how about Empowerment ? N : This letter could be for Nurture but could be for No Problem! T : This obviously must cover Training for the role. And when good at it, go for Trust .

Spelling it out! Sometimes middle managers are called upon to give a presentation or a talk on some theme relevant to their business situation. Past posts on this blog have offered a few suggestions on how to organise thinking around a theme. This one deals with a simple technique of focussing thinking on aspects of the theme itself. I call the technique "What's in a word?" To use it, spell out the theme to be considered. Then taking each letter in turn come up with other words that are relevant to the theme. Let's take an example. Suppose you have been asked to explore the theme of leadership in your team or organisation. What would the characteristics of good leadership be? Let's spell out the word and see: L : For me good leaders are people who Listen and Learn E : They need to be good at Enabling and Encouraging. Energy helps A : Staff note a leader's Attitude or Aptitude and sometimes their Adaptability D : Leaders have to show Determinat...

straining the peas Ever had a workplace squeeze where you had to propose a course of action for your team or department? Where do you start? How do you organise your thinking to get it right? Here's an easy to remember technique that might come in handy when you are asked to write a position paper or outline a proposal for a course of action or solution.  A former colleague taught me the technique many years ago and I have used it ever since.  Here is what he shared.  Think about the issue around themes, each beginning with the letter "P". 1: The first "P" is for Position. It describes the present circumstances. . Keep this bit short.  It's an introduction to the issue - a "Where we are now" statement. 2: You are probably having to suggest a course of action because something isn't quite right.  That brings us to the second "P" - the problem.  State this as objectively as possible, sticking to the facts. 3: What might happen ...

Are you good at getting things done quickly?   Or are you known for being slow and methodical?   It seems to me that in this fast-moving world it is the first of these skills that is most appreciated.   However, I will be making the point in this piece that there is a need for both these states.  T he trick is how to be good at both. Workplace squeeze : It’s holiday time in the office and many of us are focused on trying to get things cleared up before taking leave.   Have you ever noticed how productive and selective you can get about work when the holiday season arrives?   Wouldn’t it be something to maintain that kind of momentum the rest of the year?   It’s not really possible of course as we need time and space to re-energise and keep sharp.   When we work at peak levels we need time to recover and recreate otherwise we suffer burn out.   The advent of cut-backs and shortages sometimes means that fewer workers have more to do ...

How do you stay focussed on your goals?   Assuming you set them of course. Having a goal and a plan to reach it is generally agreed to be an important personal and career development strategy.   Some set SMART goals in which the desired state is specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and time-bound.   In John Adair’s Handbook of Management and Leadership he added two further criteria for goals that made them SMARTER, and these additional criteria were: evaluated and reviewed.   Adair went on to propose that goals should be smarter to the power of two.   His SMARTER 2 goals were Strategic, Meaningful, Attainable, Rewarding, Teambuilding, Empowering and Rewarding.   I buy that! Some writers suggest that goals should be outside our comfort zone and that we should aim for HUGGs, Huge, Unbelievably, Gigantic Goals.   Dreaming big in other words. Whatever the goal, most agree that we need ways to keep it in mind.   Some writers advise that goals shoul...

Are the meetings that you attend fully focussed on achieving their intended outcomes? The intention may be to generate ideas or share information but sometimes the exact focus is not always clear. Setting that focus is something I could be better at - how about you? Generally I find that meetings work best when participants collaborate effectively to acheive a successful outcome. I want to share what I have found to be an effective approach to group decision making. A few year’s ago, I had the great fortune to attend a seminar conducted by leading thinker, Edward de Bono. Among the many creativity and thinking tools that he has developed, there is one system that I return to over and over again. He refers to it as PMI, where the acronym stands for Plus, Minus and Interesting. It works by considering each of the headings in turn and spending a defined amount of time to reflect on and note the likely outcomes of a particular course of action. It goes way beyond simply listing pros ...

Here’s a workplace squeeze. You have been trying to make headway with a project or a task and it just does not seem to be working for you. You feel challenged by this, so what can you do? Steven Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, has written that sometimes the way we see the problem is the problem! Albert Einstein is reported to have said that you can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created. I am no Einstein, so for a long time I never really knew what that meant but I get it now. And what I get connects with Covey’s point about “seeing” the problem. Robert Dilts has developed a model of thinking called Neurological Levels. This can be presented as six focal points: Environment; Behaviour; Capabilities; Values and Beliefs; Identity; and Mission or Beyond Identity. The model has generated opposing views. Don’t you just love it when that happens? I do. Maybe the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Anyway, some have criticised it saying ...

One of my favourite tools for keeping a focus on time is the low-cost, low-tech kitchen timer. Designed to run for precisely three minutes, I use it several times a day, yet never when boiling eggs. That’s because it sits on my office desk and there’s not much need for cooking there! I like the timer so much that I wanted to use it as a metaphor for what this site is about. The key point about the timer is not so much the two chambers or the quantity of sand, although these are important, it is about that aperture in the middle that manages the flow. And then there’s that hourglass shape, need I say more? Well yes, you would expect me to, wouldn’t you? As I mentioned, the timer sits on my desk doing what metaphors do. I notice that shape in lots of other places too. On my computer screen, for example, where I have learned to be patient until that symbol disappears and the program is ready for action. I occasionally use the timer as a weight to anchor and draw attention to ti...

You may have heard it said that people should teach what they most need to learn. For years I have been fascinated about developing effectiveness and realising potential. I have been learning from all sorts of books, audio programmes and seminars that I have attended. Now it's time to put all that into practice and share the learning with others. I have started middlefocus as my response to the observation that many middle managers are caught between a rock and a work place. They face daily challenges in managing and leading their own teams while being on the receiving end from their senior colleagues. To top it all, they have their own work to do often against difficult deadlines. They need time and space to work but often find themselves either squeezed or stuck! Sometimes their work and personal lives tumble out of control and they could do with some help to regain their balance and move forward. That's where middlefocus comes in. Over the years I have acquired a range o...