2012-1 Leadership Winter

LEADERSHIP Winter 2012

Making Time Day-to-day chaos in our lives can be reduced or even eliminated. pp. 4-5

Ten Tips: Becoming A Strong Leader pg. 3 Team Building Basics pg. 10 What Do You Know About Effective Delegating? pg.11

LEADERSHIP WINTER 2012

A word from your Account Management Team...

MINES & ASSOCIATES 10367 West Centennial Road Littleton, Colorado 80127 800.873.7138 www.MINESandAssociates.com

Some leaders are easy to identify. We sometimes adorn them with symbols of our country, or add titles to their names or business cards, or place them in prominent physical locations like in a corner office; but some leaders are not so well identified. These leaders may not be given the authority to act as a leader, but have taken on an informal, personal responsibility to lead. They lead by example, by voicing an opinion from an unique perspective, and they influence the network (the office, the family, the book club, the poker table, etc.) in which they operate to act.

In the end, the designation of leader and the act of leading have an important distinction; leaders are responsible for leading, but the act of leading can be taken on by anybody, at any time. Consider these selected articles as tools for helping you on your path towards leadership through whatever roles you lead – not necessarily the ones where you have the title.

And remember that MINES’ is always here to help with the everyday leadership challenges you may face.

. . . . . . . . CREDITS . . . . . . .

Life Advantages - Author Delvina Mirtemadi ©2011 Ten Tips: Becoming A Strong Leader pg. 3

Team Building Basics pg. 10

Creating an Employee Evaluation pg. 11

U.S. Small Business Administration www.sba.gov/content/making-decisions Making Time pp. 4-5 Progressive Discipline Handbook: Smart Strategies for Coaching Employees - By Margie Madler-Clark and Attorney Lisa Guerin. Nolo Legal Press ©2011 Using Progressive Discipline for Employees pp. 6-7 Wellness Library Health Ink and Viatality Communications ©2011 What Do You Know About Effective Delegating? pg. 9

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TEN TIPS:

BEING A STRONG LEADER As a leader, you wear many hats. In addition to overseeing others, you are also likely to be in charge of making important decisions, coaching employees through situations, and communicating with team members about important matters.

To better develop effective leadership skills that will help you be successful in each of these areas, follow the guidelines below.

AS SOMEONE WHO MAKES DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD: 1. Think things through. Don’t decide too hastily, and make sure to consider alternatives.

Employees can be a great resource. Ask them for input regarding decisions when appropriate.

2. Take risks, but know the consequences before you jump.

3. Admit when you make a mistake, and use it as a learning tool. Share with others the lessons that you have been taught.

AS A COACH WHO GUIDES EMPLOYEES, YOU SHOULD: 4. Envision the goals that you and your team can accomplish. Seek and share the goals with your team, motivating them to get there.

5. Show each member of the team that you are interested in his or her success.

Notice unique skills and talents, and work with each member to develop them.

6. Help resolve differences between team members. You can act as a mediator between two employees who don’t see eye-to-eye. When doing this, make sure you are fair and supportive to each employee.

7. Be enthusiastic and honest to each employee. This will inspire them to be the same way.

AS A COMMUNICATOR, YOU SHOULD: 8. Give the employee your full attention when he or she is speaking to you. Don’t be quick to criticize or judge, hear the person out, and think before you speak.

9. Give feedback to employees. This can be constructive criticism, but make sure you present it in an encouraging and supportive way. Be specific when an employee needs to make a change.

10. Be calm when stressful situations arise. Be the voice of reason when things are tough.

Winter 2012 LEADERSHIP 3

MAKING TIME You planned on getting to work early to finish the project that’s due today, but now the car won’t start. You know you wrote the mechanic’s name down somewhere, but now you can’t remember where you put it. You frantically search through your notes, but you can’t find it anywhere. There’s no way you’re going to have time to finish your project.

You start to panic.

The clock just keeps ticking.

Most of us have felt swamped at one time or another. With hectic work schedules, family responsibilities, and social engagements, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time for everything we need and want to do. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Although life will always provide us with its little twists and turns, once we learn to manage our time wisely, much of the day-to-day chaos in our lives can be reduced or even eliminated.

The first step in learning how to manage your time is to develop a general work schedule. Your work schedule should include time for yourself as well as time for the maintenance of your business.

After you’ve defined the major elements of your workload, the next step is to prioritize them by identifying critical deadlines, routine maintenance items, and fun/relaxation time. Answering questions like “How much time do I have to make this decision, finish this task, or contact this person?” will help you to start identifying what needs to be done immediately versus what can wait. Setting priorities depends on deadlines, how many people you must call to get the information you need, and whether you can delegate or get assistance from others. If you are involved in group projects, reserve additional time for communication and problem-solving.

Once you have identified your priorities, look at all of your options for achieving them. Evaluate and move forward with the ones you feel are the most useful for you. The only time to consider changing approaches mid-task is when you know the change will save time. If you are in doubt, it is usually best to consider in the direction you started.

By setting up your work schedule and identifying your priorities, you have already started down the road to more effective time management. Other time management suggestions you may find useful for managing both your business life as well as your personal life include the following:

4 LEADERSHIP Winter 2012

Contract out tasks.

Contract out tasks you do not have the expertise to complete. Your client will appreciate your honesty and effort to get the best result.

Start with the most worrisome task.

Start the morning, afternoon, or evening with the most worrisome task before you. This will reduce your anxiety level for the next task.

Complete deadline work early.

Not only will this reduce stress and lighten your work schedule, but it will also give you more self-confidence about managing your schedule.

Know your capacity for stress.

When you are hitting overload, take the break you need (even if it is a short one) when you need it.

Stay organized.

Take time at the end of each day to briefly organize your desk and make reminder lists of tasks for the next day or week.

Take advantage of down time.

Allow yourself some down time between busy periods to review your schedule and reevaluate your priorities.

Get physical.

Physical exertion such as walking, bicycling, swimming, or organized sports activities helps to discharge stress. Stretching, yoga, jumping rope, sit-ups, playing with children, or doing yard work are other types of therapeutic breaks you should consider during times of stress.

Have fun.

Be sure to have some fun while working or playing; a good sense of humor can keep most problems in perspective.

Divide up your time.

Decide how much time to spend on business development, personal needs, volunteerism, and family. Start by allowing 25 percent of your time for yourself. Each time you make a commitment, set a timeline for your involvement. Remember that maintenance takes at least 25 percent of the time you spend on any project whether it’s business, marriage, or serving on the board of a non-profit organization.

Build flexibility into your schedule.

Your availability to family and friends depends on the flexibility you build into your schedule.

Female business owners frequently have the primary responsibility for making sure family members are cared for when they are dependent or ill, so it’s necessary to leave some time in your schedule for emergencies or to have good backup resources. Get to know your neighbors so you know who to call on for help in times of crisis.

In the bigger picture, consider the relationship between your business life and your personal life. Be as realistic as possible when answering the following questions, keeping in mind what is most important to you: • What are your long term goals?

Your partner’s goals?

• Where are the conflicts, Where are the similarities?

• What is it that you really want to do?

List all possible ways to accomplish this.

• How long will it take you to reach your goal?

• How do your timeline and goals affect your family (parents, siblings, partner, children)?

• How do your personal goals conflict with or match your business goals?

• How much time can you donate to community programs?

• Have you talked about your personal goals with your business partner?

• Have you talked about your business goals with your personal partner?

Don’t underestimate the toll that emotional stress takes on your physical health and your ability to concentrate on your work or enjoy time with your family. Make sure you have time for the important people and events in your life.

USING PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE FOR EMPLOYEES Many companies either have a progressive discipline policy in place or follow one in practice. And it’s not hard to see why: Used properly, progressive discipline gives managers the tools they need to make fair, consistent, and legally defensible disciplinary decisions. Because it’s based on communication and collaboration, true progressive discipline also helps employees improve -- the ultimate goal of any disciplinary system.

But how do you use progressive discipline to get results? How do you decide what type of discipline is appropriate in a particular situation? And how do you deliver that disciplinary message in a way that produces actual improvement?

By following the seven steps below:

Step 1: Gather Information

Step 3: Decide How to Respond

You need to know what’s really going on before you can decide how to address it. Some situations are relatively clear cut: For example, an employee has been showing up to work late, missed a deadline, or failed to follow required safety procedures. However, if it’s tough to tell exactly what the problem is or who’s causing it, you may need to investigate a bit before deciding what to do. This can happen if, for example, one employee accuses another of misconduct.

The point of progressive discipline is proportionate response: choosing a disciplinary measure that reflects how serious the problem is.

In choosing a disciplinary measure, consider:

Step 2: Assess the Severity How is the employee’s problem affecting the company? It’s important to determine the answer to this question before you impose discipline for several reasons: It will help you choose an appropriate disciplinary measure, give you a basis for objective, consistent disciplinary decisions, and allow you to communicate the importance of the problem -- and why it has to change -- to the employee.

6 LEADERSHIP Winter 2012

The effect of the behavior: What impact is the behavior having on other employees, customers, business opportunities, and so on?

The frequency of the behavior: A first-time problem calls for a less formal intervention, while repeat offenders warrant a heightened response.

The employee’s disciplinary history: If you’ve already disciplined the employee for the same problem, tougher discipline will be necessary.

The legality of the behavior: Illegal behavior calls for more serious discipline.

Step 4: Prepare to Talk to the Employee Plan ahead for your meeting, so you don’t respond emotionally -- and so you’re ready to explain the problem and why it has to change. Make sure you have a few concrete examples of what the employee is doing wrong. You should also be prepared to explain exactly what the employee needs to improve and why: You might find it helpful to bring a copy of company policies, the employee’s job description, performance appraisals, or other documents where these expectations are clearly stated.

Step 5: Meet With the Employee This is where your preparation will pay off in an honest, respectful session that paves the way for improvement. When you meet, you’ll want to start by telling the employee what the problem is and how it’s affecting the company. If you’ve already discussed this problem with the employee, you should briefly review those conversations.

You should listen carefully to the employee’s response, both to make sure that discipline is in order and to find out why the problem is happening.

Once you and the employee have talked about the problem, it’s time to start thinking about solutions.

Help the employee come up with ways to solve the problem and get back on track: An employee who helps develop the action plan is much more likely to stick to it. After you come up with a general plan for improvement, talk about the details: what needs to happen by when.

What impact is the behavior having on other employees, customers, business opportunities, and so on?

Step 6: Documentation There are many important reasons why you must put disciplinary decisions in writing. Of course, you’ll want written proof that the employee was aware of the problem and received a fair chance to improve if the issue ever ends up in court. But documenting disciplinary decisions also helps you make sure you and the employee agree about what happened and what the employee will do about it; it also creates a record for you or the employee’s future managers; and it helps you identify patterns of problems on your team.

Step 7: Follow Up Remember, the ultimate goal of discipline is to fix the problem and improve the employee’s performance. The only way to do this is to check in often on the status of the action plan and work closely with the employee to ensure a positive outcome. Progressive discipline is a process, not a single meeting or document. To get the most out of it, you need to stay involved until the problem is solved.

2012 HR Webinar Series

ChooseWell Our 2012 Webinar Series - ChooseWell - has been designed to provide practical and useful information to employees and managers regarding the everyday decisions to the questions that life presents to us.

A quarterly series, the presenters have been selected from experts in their field to provide tips and helpful hints to ChooseWell.

To learn more and to register for these events, visit: www.minesandassociates.com/newsletters/newsletters_recent.htm

Session One: Making a Plan and Sticking to it.

FEBRUARY 9, 2012 10AM - 11AM MST

Session Two: Healthful Decisions APRIL 12, 2012 10AM - 11AM MST

Session Three: Organizational Wellness AUGUST 14, 2012 10AM - 11AM MST

Session Four: Worry-free Finances NOVEMBER 14, 2012 10AM - 11AM MST

QUESTIONS? Reach us at 800.873.7138 | Brought to you by BizPsych and MINES & Associates

What Do You Know About Effective Delegating?

1. Delegating allows you to spend more time managing and less time doing tasks.

Effective delegation is an essential managerial skill.

Being aware of the benefits of delegating and recognizing the risk of not passing work on to others can help you become a more effective manager.

Take this quiz to test your knowledge of delegating.

Answers appear on the following page...

True / False 2. To determine which work to delegate, divide your tasks and assignments into two groups -- those that require your personal attention and those that don’t. Consider delegating those in the latter group.

True / False When you delegate, outline the tasks, expectations and deadlines.

True / False 3. You don’t need to follow up at regular intervals with someone you’ve delegated a project to.

True / False 4. Budget enough money, time and any other resources needed for people to get the jobs you delegate done.

True / False 5. Designate a page in your planner or a computer file for tracking delegated projects.

True / False 6. It’s OK not to delegate assignments because you want full credit for getting all your work done.

True / False 7. It’s best not to micromanage delegated projects.

True / False 8. Always give a deadline to the person to whom you’re delegating a project.

True / False 9. Find out what went wrong if people don’t meet your expectations with projects you’ve delegated to them.

True / False Winter 2012 LEADERSHIP 9

TEAM BUILDING BASICS

If you’ve been asked to build a better team for your organization, you need to consider some very important elements. First, keep in mind that the process is ongoing and doesn’t stop once your team is created. You’ll have to make decisions that keep the team motivated, manage the times when one or more team members fall behind, and keep everyone focused on the goals at hand. Follow the tips below and get started on creating a successful team: •

Hire or select team members who are qualified to meet the requirements of the job

•

Have team members involved in setting goals, solving problems, and making decisions that impact the team

•

Keep the lines of communication open

•

Set an example for the level of performance you expect from your team

•

Support and encourage each team member on an individual basis

•

Follow through with your commitments to your team members

•

Be ready to step in to assist your team when someone is out or the workload changes

•

If conflicts occur, resolve disagreements quickly with a focus on supporting the goals of the organization and reducing future conflict

•

Give each and every team member expectations for performance that meet his or her capabilities

•

Be ready and willing to let team members go who can’t meet the roles and responsibilities expected of them

Quiz Answers (From page 9 - Give yourself 10 points for each right answer.)

1. True.

2. True.

3. True. Failure to plan these essentials ahead of time can result in confusion, marginal results and missed deadlines.

4. False. Following up will help you maintain control and accountability. You can track easy assignments by asking how they’re going. Complex projects may require formal reviews of goals, problems and deadlines.

5. True. Doing so allows people taking over the tasks to devote more time to doing them and less time to figuring out how to get them done.

10 LEADERSHIP Winter 2012

6. True. For each project, note whom you assigned it to, one or more follow-up dates and the deadline.

7. False. With this syndrome often comes the belief that personal value is measured by sweat rather than results.

8. True. Letting people get projects done as they see fit empowers them to take on responsibility and can result in new and creative solutions to long-standing problems.

9. True. After delegating a project, mark your calendar to remind you to ask how the project is going from time to time.

10. True. Ask questions to determine what the person did wrong and what you can do next time to ensure better results.

Creating an

EMPLOYEE EVALUATION Conducting an annual or bi-annual employee review is an important piece of a successful work environment.

Employee evaluations will help employees know what they are doing well, what they can improve on, and where they stand in the company. It helps the employee feel valued and inspired to continue achieving their goals. Open yet structured conversation about accomplishments and performance can lay a strong foundation for improving the lines of communication between supervisor/employer and employee.

Be sure to plan far in advanced. This allows both parties to be prepared to address the important issues at hand.

Make sure both the employee and the manager know the purpose of the meeting as well as any expectations for compensation negotiation. When forming an employee evaluation: Set Standards • Evaluate the employee based on an objective set of standards that are appropriate for his department and position.

• At the beginning of the evaluation period, tell the employee about the standards so she knows which points she is being evaluated on. This will give her an initial idea of what is important to the employer.

• Monitor performance at points during the year.

• When the evaluation is complete, set standards for the next evaluation. Ask yourself if there are other areas that should be evaluated.

Answer Key Questions When evaluating an employee, answer these questions: • How much did the employee accomplish?

• Were the results below average, average, or above average?

• Were the costs within the budget and respected by the employee?

• Was the work completed efficiently and in the proper sequence?

• Were customers satisfied?

• What did they bring to the overall company?

• Did the employee improve from the last evaluation?

• Did they meet/exceed the goals they set during the last evaluation?

• Do they look for opportunities for professional development?

Also take into account circumstances that may have affected the employee’s performance. Had he just learned a new skill? Was he busy training for a promotion?

Watch for Poor Performance Watch for areas that influence an employee’s work.

Is the employee: • Punctual?

• At work regularly?

• Safe, in respect to himself and others?

• Organized?

• Planning effectively?

See what you can suggest to help your colleague improve .

Give a Fair and Accurate Evaluation When evaluating an employee, • Don’t rely too much on subjective issues, like the employee’s personality or interest toward the job.

Stick to how well he or she performs.

• Don’t let irrelevant issues factor into the evaluation, like physical appearance or out-of-work behaviors.

• Try to keep the standards at a reasonable level for everyone.

• Set aside bias.

• Monitor the employee as accurately and attentively as you can.

Use Evaluating Tools You can use other tools to help create your evaluation.

Aside from visual monitoring, inspect: • Production records • Customer reports • Interim performance reviews • Audits Winter 2012 LEADERSHIP 11

A note to Supervisors...

From time to time, situations arise when a supervisor is not sure how to respond to a particular behavior. The Employee Assistance Program is available on a 24/7 basis for consultation on issues such as: referring an employee to the EAP, how best to respond to and manage difficult behavior in the workplace, and whether training or some other form of group intervention (such as an organizational intervention or a conflict resolution) may be helpful for a particular situation. The EAP can serve as an ally to anyone who is working with a troubled employee.

• 24/7 supervisor consultation regarding problems in the workplace

• Assessment of behavioral risk on the job • Return-to-Duty conferences

• Advisory services in writing, revising, and implementing policies

• Supervisor and Manager training

• Unlimited formal Work Performance Referrals

• Coaching for management and leadership skills

• Conflict resolution for supervisor-employee problems MINES believes that employees are an organization’s most valuable resource.

Your EAP is always available to provide you and your employees with support.

The MINES Team 800.873.7138 www.MINESandAssociates.com