As a management coach I am asked this very question on a daily basis. It is my experience you cannot 'manage' your boss. You can manage how you do your work and how you interact with people. Those are the only things you have control over. You do not have control over how another person behaves.
There are two reasons for bad bosses, these are (1) inability to form working relationships with people and (2) inadequate professional development in management strategies and competencies. The only person with control over these is the boss. I recently coached a senior hospital executive who had been 'profiled' by his staff as a bad boss. He was open to change and subsequently resigned when he identified himself as being unwilling to make necessary changes to his behaviour. He is a good person, lacking skills who became a bad boss due to his inadequacies.
Advice to people to 'approach' their bad boss with detailed info on his/her behaviour are pointless. If the boss was open to that approach he or she would be naturally reflective and adaptive - and likely already be a good boss. In doing so one can also set themselves up for an unpleasant experience. Feedback is best left to formal processes.
Should you continue to work with a bad boss? In the long term no you should not. Why subject yourself to workplace bullying? On the other hand, I recently coached a lady to develop a range of coping strategies that enabled her to continue her work long enough to outlast her bad boss. For my client, this was her preferred option. She now has a new boss in a new department and is a happy person. In some situations it is just not practical to move to another role or organisation.
It is unusual for a boss to universally bad - that is disliked by everyone - in many instances 'bad boss' is really a personal relationship issue between a manager and an individual. Universally bad bosses become obvious to everyone, including their boss and their tenure is limited.
Confusing 'bad boss' with 'personal relationship' clouds the issue and prevents resolution. A personal relationship conflict requires either, two mature people to meet and discuss how to go forward or an external meditator to engage with both parties. Each of us needs to clarify our real situation.
If you are in that rare situation where you have a universally bad boss there are a number of things you and your colleagues can do, these include:
Developing individual coping strategies. (each person is different)
Reflecting on your own workplace practices
Being clear on what your boss expects from you
Meet those expectations
Rely more upon informal leadership/management structures
Commence preparing to work someplace else
These are positive strategies where the focus is on you as these are the only things you have control over.
Avoid negative strategies or reactions such as withholding information, withdrawing support, public derision, backstabbing etc as at the end of the day the only person that pays for that is you, with your self esteem and reputation.
If on the other hand you do not have a universally bad boss and the real issue is the relationship between you and your boss then you need to obtain external assistance - if you want to help yourself.
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager To CEO
john_coxon on Twitter
johncoxon1 on Facebook
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Why be a manager?
Often as I observe managers in various coaching roles or in development workshops I ask myself why some people become involved in management? I read the research and I understand that money is way down the list of performance motivators yet there are times when I cannot help myself from forming a belief that many people become involved in management because (a) it pays more or (b) their ego doesn't allow them to turn down the offer.
How many really understand the role of a manager and what is expected of them? Back in the 1930's the granddaddy of modern management, Henri Fayol developed a set of management principles and activities which have guided managers for the past 80 years. At the same time I believe these same principles and actions, which truthful in what it is managers need to do along the way, have created a management 'thinking' that is flawed.
In 1982 Fernando Flores wrote in his Harvard thesis about conversations, commitments and trust. He was writing about the workplace of the future. The gap between how you think about Fayol and how you think about Flores is a chasm - one that many managers appear unable or unwilling to jump over!
In a recent workshop on decision making where we were exploring Roger Martins model of Integrative Thinking one participant observed, 'all this decision making seems very time consuming'. This person was being truthful, good decision making is time consuming. It involves two or more people in a conversation. To this persons credit she was also open to exploring the possible consequences of taking a short cut approach to decision making. The questions remained at the forefront of my mind. Why would someone who considers decision making conversations to be wasteful and time consuming want to be in a management role?
I believe the prime role of managers is to develop the potential of their team or workgroup and the individuals within that group. Nothing more, nothing less. What does this imply? Firstly the role of manager is to align workgroup activities and outcomes with organisational strategic outcomes. Secondly the role of the manager is to develop the capacity of the team to perform the tasks required to acheive the outcomes. Thirdly the role of the manager is to allocate or delegate tasks to ensure an equitable and effective distribution of work. Fourthly the role of the manager is to monitor implementation, coach people through being effective, review progress and provide feedback. Sure, inside these four groups of management tasks are preparing budgets, creating rosters and a heap of individual tasks.
Are you in a management role? How well can you assess yourself against the following:
1: How well is your workgroup aligned with organisation direction and outcomes?
2: How capable are your people in achieving those outcomes? Do they have the necessary experience, skills, resources and support?
3: How well is work delegated, by firstly yourself, then your supervisors?
4: How well do you monitor progress, follow up, offer support and resources, remove blockages, provide coaching and provide positive constructive feedback?
If you rate yourself as low on any of these four then I recommend you contact me and we can work together to help you develop those four areas of management. If you do not want to be proficient in any of those four areas of management then you need to review the reasons why you want to be a manager.
Are you in your role to develop people to achieve maximum performance and effectiveness or are you in there for the money and to satisfy your own ego? If you are there for the money or for ego then the only person you are serving is yourself. You are greedy and your greed will feed your incompetence. The best people will see through your greed and incompetence and will leave or refuse to work with you. This leaves you only those that don't care - and they will make you look worse still.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email: john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Facebook: johncoxon1
Twitter: john_coxon
How many really understand the role of a manager and what is expected of them? Back in the 1930's the granddaddy of modern management, Henri Fayol developed a set of management principles and activities which have guided managers for the past 80 years. At the same time I believe these same principles and actions, which truthful in what it is managers need to do along the way, have created a management 'thinking' that is flawed.
In 1982 Fernando Flores wrote in his Harvard thesis about conversations, commitments and trust. He was writing about the workplace of the future. The gap between how you think about Fayol and how you think about Flores is a chasm - one that many managers appear unable or unwilling to jump over!
In a recent workshop on decision making where we were exploring Roger Martins model of Integrative Thinking one participant observed, 'all this decision making seems very time consuming'. This person was being truthful, good decision making is time consuming. It involves two or more people in a conversation. To this persons credit she was also open to exploring the possible consequences of taking a short cut approach to decision making. The questions remained at the forefront of my mind. Why would someone who considers decision making conversations to be wasteful and time consuming want to be in a management role?
I believe the prime role of managers is to develop the potential of their team or workgroup and the individuals within that group. Nothing more, nothing less. What does this imply? Firstly the role of manager is to align workgroup activities and outcomes with organisational strategic outcomes. Secondly the role of the manager is to develop the capacity of the team to perform the tasks required to acheive the outcomes. Thirdly the role of the manager is to allocate or delegate tasks to ensure an equitable and effective distribution of work. Fourthly the role of the manager is to monitor implementation, coach people through being effective, review progress and provide feedback. Sure, inside these four groups of management tasks are preparing budgets, creating rosters and a heap of individual tasks.
Are you in a management role? How well can you assess yourself against the following:
1: How well is your workgroup aligned with organisation direction and outcomes?
2: How capable are your people in achieving those outcomes? Do they have the necessary experience, skills, resources and support?
3: How well is work delegated, by firstly yourself, then your supervisors?
4: How well do you monitor progress, follow up, offer support and resources, remove blockages, provide coaching and provide positive constructive feedback?
If you rate yourself as low on any of these four then I recommend you contact me and we can work together to help you develop those four areas of management. If you do not want to be proficient in any of those four areas of management then you need to review the reasons why you want to be a manager.
Are you in your role to develop people to achieve maximum performance and effectiveness or are you in there for the money and to satisfy your own ego? If you are there for the money or for ego then the only person you are serving is yourself. You are greedy and your greed will feed your incompetence. The best people will see through your greed and incompetence and will leave or refuse to work with you. This leaves you only those that don't care - and they will make you look worse still.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Email: john@johncoxon.com.au
Skype: john_coxon
Facebook: johncoxon1
Twitter: john_coxon
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Workplace bullying and harrassment
Bullying in the workplace is endemic. A 2009 survey in the United States found that 37% of workers believed they had been bullied in some manner. Management expert and author, Professor Robert I Sutton believes that workplace bullying is bad for business as it leads to absenteeism, staff turnover and performance issues. That is not rocket science, as a management coach I have witnessed and coached those that have been the victims off, or impacted upon by workplace bullying.
Our schools have had anti-bullying policies and practices in place for years. Why is it when we become 'adults' we forsake such practices? Surely experience would show that even adults experience problems coping with the impact and consequences of workplace bullying. A story in The Age newspaper in Victoria highlighted the extreme consequences of workplace bullying when it reported on the recent death of 19-year old Brodie Panlock. As parents, none of us would want the grief experienced by Brodies family. Yet as adults and parents many of us have at some point engaged in some form of workplace harrassment. When 37% of the workforce believe they have been bullied it would be reasonable to suggest another 37% were involved as the bullies. For every victim there is a bully. That is 72% of the workforce wasting time engaged in an activity that robs people of their dignity and self respect.
It has been suggested by some that workplace bullying is more endemic and has an even greater overall impact than sexual harrassment yet in every workplace there is policies and practices designed to eliminate sexual harrassment. It is difficult to imagine 37% of the workforce having experienced sexual harrassment and this is not meant in any way to belittle those suffering the impact of sexual harrassment.
In 2006 a report by the British Medical Association found that 1 in 4 employees in the National Health Service had experienced some form of bullying while at work. Interestingly 16% of medical staff believed they had been bullied by nurses. Bullying included, belittling people, undermining work, withholding information and imposing impossible deadlines. These behaviours indicate that much workplace bullying results in mental distress rather than physical violence.
A 2009 report into bullying in the Australia health sector reported that as many as 50% of healthcare employees had experienced bullying. Similarly in New Zealand there have been reports of up to 50% of some sectors of healthcare having experienced workplace bullying. Other research has found that less than 37% of those impacted upon actually reported the bullying. This means a lot of people may be running around your organisation suffering the mental anguish from being bullied. Why have they not sought help? Is it because your organisation does not have a clear policy on workplace bullying? Is it because they don't believe they will be helped? Is it because they don't know where to get help?
Have you been a victim of bullying in the workplace? Speak up now. Name and shame the organisation. This is not something to remain silent about. Share your stories and also share with others what you did to seek help and to cope with the impact.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Facebook: johncoxon1
Twitter: john_coxon
LinkedIn: johncoxon
Our schools have had anti-bullying policies and practices in place for years. Why is it when we become 'adults' we forsake such practices? Surely experience would show that even adults experience problems coping with the impact and consequences of workplace bullying. A story in The Age newspaper in Victoria highlighted the extreme consequences of workplace bullying when it reported on the recent death of 19-year old Brodie Panlock. As parents, none of us would want the grief experienced by Brodies family. Yet as adults and parents many of us have at some point engaged in some form of workplace harrassment. When 37% of the workforce believe they have been bullied it would be reasonable to suggest another 37% were involved as the bullies. For every victim there is a bully. That is 72% of the workforce wasting time engaged in an activity that robs people of their dignity and self respect.
It has been suggested by some that workplace bullying is more endemic and has an even greater overall impact than sexual harrassment yet in every workplace there is policies and practices designed to eliminate sexual harrassment. It is difficult to imagine 37% of the workforce having experienced sexual harrassment and this is not meant in any way to belittle those suffering the impact of sexual harrassment.
In 2006 a report by the British Medical Association found that 1 in 4 employees in the National Health Service had experienced some form of bullying while at work. Interestingly 16% of medical staff believed they had been bullied by nurses. Bullying included, belittling people, undermining work, withholding information and imposing impossible deadlines. These behaviours indicate that much workplace bullying results in mental distress rather than physical violence.
A 2009 report into bullying in the Australia health sector reported that as many as 50% of healthcare employees had experienced bullying. Similarly in New Zealand there have been reports of up to 50% of some sectors of healthcare having experienced workplace bullying. Other research has found that less than 37% of those impacted upon actually reported the bullying. This means a lot of people may be running around your organisation suffering the mental anguish from being bullied. Why have they not sought help? Is it because your organisation does not have a clear policy on workplace bullying? Is it because they don't believe they will be helped? Is it because they don't know where to get help?
Have you been a victim of bullying in the workplace? Speak up now. Name and shame the organisation. This is not something to remain silent about. Share your stories and also share with others what you did to seek help and to cope with the impact.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Facebook: johncoxon1
Twitter: john_coxon
LinkedIn: johncoxon
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Turning Negative into a Positive
During a coaching session yesterday I discussed with a client how she planned to approach some negative behaviour between staff members.
We agreed there were a couple of options. One, she could provide a 'lecture' to the staff group, thus avoiding any public identification of the culprits. Two, she could turn a negative into a positive by converting the lecture into a professional development opportunity.
Essentially the issue as my client understood was one of individual values and behaviours. How we would like to be treated by others and how we would like to treat them.
Were my client to choose to provide a 'lecture' many of those there would have tuned out. It is possible the culprits would have rationalised their behaviour by believing the manager was referring to someone other than themselves. At worst the message would have been wasted.
Instead, should my client choose to convert this into professional development opportunity she can use handover time to engage the group in a discussion on values and behaviours, have them identify how they would like to behave and be treated. This then provides opportunties for follow up. The Unit Manager could then take copies of the the whiteboard and circulate everyone's input for further comment. She could then create a series of 'values' posters to be displayed throughout the workplace.
Some of you may consider this 'soft' approach ineffective. Remember this. The deed has been done, it cannot be undone. The culprits are not known and trying to shame them publically would likely backfire. Why not take a different approach, a long term approach, why not educate rather than lecture? Thats the difference between leadership and management.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Join johncoxon1 on Facebook
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Email: john@johncoxon.com.au
We agreed there were a couple of options. One, she could provide a 'lecture' to the staff group, thus avoiding any public identification of the culprits. Two, she could turn a negative into a positive by converting the lecture into a professional development opportunity.
Essentially the issue as my client understood was one of individual values and behaviours. How we would like to be treated by others and how we would like to treat them.
Were my client to choose to provide a 'lecture' many of those there would have tuned out. It is possible the culprits would have rationalised their behaviour by believing the manager was referring to someone other than themselves. At worst the message would have been wasted.
Instead, should my client choose to convert this into professional development opportunity she can use handover time to engage the group in a discussion on values and behaviours, have them identify how they would like to behave and be treated. This then provides opportunties for follow up. The Unit Manager could then take copies of the the whiteboard and circulate everyone's input for further comment. She could then create a series of 'values' posters to be displayed throughout the workplace.
Some of you may consider this 'soft' approach ineffective. Remember this. The deed has been done, it cannot be undone. The culprits are not known and trying to shame them publically would likely backfire. Why not take a different approach, a long term approach, why not educate rather than lecture? Thats the difference between leadership and management.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Join johncoxon1 on Facebook
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Email: john@johncoxon.com.au
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Prudent hospital management
As pressure mounts on State Governments to keep the cost of healthcare in line with budget expectations an increasing number of hospitals are reporting efforts to rein in costs. (http://bit.ly/6INrbM) Many are electing to reduce staff numbers. The concern with this approach is that any gains are short term. Simply making staff redundant might satisfy short term expectations yet fail to resolve the underlying issue. At the same time making staff redundant without addressing other areas of waste can serve to destroy moral and loyalty.
Tough times call for effective leadership. Not only the type of leadership that is able to make the hard decisions when they are required but leadership also able to ensure the highest level of communication throughout an organisation. The greatest concern for staff is when decisions affecting their work conditions are made without consultation and with full understanding of the need for change and the benefits.
Gone are the days where those employed in our public hospitals can expect Government's to simply bail-out a hospital management that spends more than its allocated revenue. Access to affordable, if not free healthcare should be a right of everyone, regardless of their situation; yet universal health care has a cost, funding is via taxation. Such funding will always be a finite source even while the cost of providing health care continues to escalate.
Reducing staff numbers without addressing workplace design issues can be seen as poor leadership, where managers make expedient decisions without having the courage to dig deeper and work to address core issues. On the flip side, the health sector is a political system bound by traditional and established rules of engagement between managers and unions. The future will require leadership, and a willingness to have another look at workplace practices by both parties as the sector struggles to attract and retain people. Failure of leadership can only result in increased efforts of management to keep costs down by reducing staff numbers.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Contact john_coxon on Skype
johncoxon1 on Facebook
Tough times call for effective leadership. Not only the type of leadership that is able to make the hard decisions when they are required but leadership also able to ensure the highest level of communication throughout an organisation. The greatest concern for staff is when decisions affecting their work conditions are made without consultation and with full understanding of the need for change and the benefits.
Gone are the days where those employed in our public hospitals can expect Government's to simply bail-out a hospital management that spends more than its allocated revenue. Access to affordable, if not free healthcare should be a right of everyone, regardless of their situation; yet universal health care has a cost, funding is via taxation. Such funding will always be a finite source even while the cost of providing health care continues to escalate.
Reducing staff numbers without addressing workplace design issues can be seen as poor leadership, where managers make expedient decisions without having the courage to dig deeper and work to address core issues. On the flip side, the health sector is a political system bound by traditional and established rules of engagement between managers and unions. The future will require leadership, and a willingness to have another look at workplace practices by both parties as the sector struggles to attract and retain people. Failure of leadership can only result in increased efforts of management to keep costs down by reducing staff numbers.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Follow john_coxon on Twitter
Contact john_coxon on Skype
johncoxon1 on Facebook
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Lean Processes in Healthcare
The difference between 'lean processes' as practiced in a manufacturing plant and that practiced in a service organisation such as a hospital, is that the manufacturer seeks to align order/stock inputs with streamlined production processes so as to eliminate wastage and reduce stock and labour costs. A service organisation, on the other hand does not have a 'production process' and therefore needs to shift its focus away from cost reduction to meeting the needs of multiple stakeholder groups.
I believe a core tenent of lean processes in a hospital should be 'do no harm'. This means the process should not result in any forced reduction of staff numbers and patient care must not be compromised. In fact the opposite should apply. Lean processes should seek to reduce workplace stressors upon staff while providing patients with the highest quality care at the least amount of pain and inconvenience. I also believe lean processes will become increasingly critical as labour shortages force hospitals, especially rural providers, to achieve more with less staff.
Case studies from a variety of hospitals that have adopted lean process show reductions in wastage, less time involved in non-core activities, reduced processing times and reduced waiting times. Imagine if Government were to focus on education designed to keep people out of hospital while hospital staff developed lean processes - it is possible this combination may lead to lower operating costs, improved utilisation of facilities and reduced waiting times.
It is time for hospitals to have another look at Total Quality Management, Continuous Improvement and lean processes. Each of these can be aligned as a service delivery process and can also be aligned with existing accreditation and risk management processes.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Skype john_coxon
Twitter john_coxon
Facebook johncoxon1
I believe a core tenent of lean processes in a hospital should be 'do no harm'. This means the process should not result in any forced reduction of staff numbers and patient care must not be compromised. In fact the opposite should apply. Lean processes should seek to reduce workplace stressors upon staff while providing patients with the highest quality care at the least amount of pain and inconvenience. I also believe lean processes will become increasingly critical as labour shortages force hospitals, especially rural providers, to achieve more with less staff.
Case studies from a variety of hospitals that have adopted lean process show reductions in wastage, less time involved in non-core activities, reduced processing times and reduced waiting times. Imagine if Government were to focus on education designed to keep people out of hospital while hospital staff developed lean processes - it is possible this combination may lead to lower operating costs, improved utilisation of facilities and reduced waiting times.
It is time for hospitals to have another look at Total Quality Management, Continuous Improvement and lean processes. Each of these can be aligned as a service delivery process and can also be aligned with existing accreditation and risk management processes.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Skype john_coxon
Twitter john_coxon
Facebook johncoxon1
Friday, November 27, 2009
Risk Management in Management
Recently have been involved in the delivery of a frontline management program to 20 supervisors in a regional hospital and during a workshop they were discussing risk management. Naturally being clincially oriented many were considering risk management from that perspective. In turn, I began to formulate some ideas on risk management in management. In other words what are some of the actual management risks? The following are my thoughts:
Failure to communicate effectively. By this I refer to a failure to develop a 'culture of listening' where people are encouraged to speak up, to ask questions, to propose ideas safe in the knowledge they will be listened to, respectfully and due dilgence given to their ideas.
Failure to set clear expectations.How can people acheive their outcomes when they don't understand, and agree with what is expected of them?
Failure to monitor, evaluate, provide feedback and hold people accountable Enough said!
Some, reading this might ask, hey what about failure to set strategy, or implement strategy, or hire the right people or design work roles? Everyone of those, and many more offer some management risk. What I am suggesting here is that the greatest risk of management is the inability to develop a 'people culture'. The greatest management risk is a focus on 'top-down' management rather than collective, collaborative leadership.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Twitter john_coxon
Facebook johncoxon1
Skype john_coxon
Failure to communicate effectively. By this I refer to a failure to develop a 'culture of listening' where people are encouraged to speak up, to ask questions, to propose ideas safe in the knowledge they will be listened to, respectfully and due dilgence given to their ideas.
Failure to set clear expectations.How can people acheive their outcomes when they don't understand, and agree with what is expected of them?
Failure to monitor, evaluate, provide feedback and hold people accountable Enough said!
Some, reading this might ask, hey what about failure to set strategy, or implement strategy, or hire the right people or design work roles? Everyone of those, and many more offer some management risk. What I am suggesting here is that the greatest risk of management is the inability to develop a 'people culture'. The greatest management risk is a focus on 'top-down' management rather than collective, collaborative leadership.
Let The Journey Continue
John Coxon
Taking You From Frontline Manager to CEO
Twitter john_coxon
Facebook johncoxon1
Skype john_coxon
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