You're Fired!
By By Dave Erdman, President, Vital Learning Corporation

Now in its third season, The Apprentice is still drawing fans to the show to hear these now famous words from Donald Trump. Veteran watchers know that many times, it seems that it is the project manager that feels the burn of these words.
You might agree with me that getting involved with the personalities of the participants is easy --- some you like, and some you can’t stand.

So, why are these talented project managers being fired?

In most cases, they are the same reasons that managers in your organization are not performing at the skill level that is needed to be an effective leader.
Project managers and supervisors have problems managing people for a lot of reasons. They may have the technical talent to the job, but when it comes to dealing with other human beings, they often lack these skills:
· They don’t communicate clearly
· They don’t know how to effectively delegate and coach
· They have a problem resolving conflicts
· They focus on attitudes and not behavior

Let’s look at a typical scenario, which is often played out time after time in organizations.

Tom works as a member of a six-member software development team. Tom made two critical errors on a project quickly approaching its deadline. Jen, a team member, fell behind because of Tom’s errors, and the other team members began to feel animosity towards both of them. Sharp emails were exchanged among the team members, and progress on the project was grinding to a halt.

Another team member finally came forward to explain the issue to the team leader, who had not been in communication with the team in the last week. The team leader called a meeting of the team, sharply criticizing Tom and Jen, and then threatened punitive measures against the entire team if the project did not finish on time.

Some Perspective
An alien concept to most managers, and probably some of the most important skills a team leader can have, is the ability to give orders, evaluate performance, correct work habits, deal with complaints, and resolve conflicts, while maintaining a team member’s self-esteem.

These skills are the only way to ensure that mistakes will be reported immediately and fully so that the root causes can be identified and amended. Assigning blame clearly discourages reporting of mistakes, and organizational quality and productivity suffers.

Research tells us the No. 1 reason people leave an organization occurs because of a bad manager, not the company. Many times people are promoted to a management level because they perform well at the task-oriented level, then find themselves in the role of manager, lost and stressed out. Often, the only way to deal with the “bad manager” is to fire him or her. This way results in loss of time and money in the hiring process.

Does this scenario sound familiar?

Do your leaders and managers have these essential skills?

· Maintain or Enhance Team Member Self-Esteem – supporting the team member’s sense of respect and dignity.
· Focus on Behavior – dealing with what people do rather than with their attitudes or personal characteristics.
· Encourage Team Member Participation – involving the team in decision-making and problem-solving as a key motivational tool.

With the proper training, most managers can be saved by resolving the skill set deficiency. Then they can lead and manage a group of people so they are productive, effective and more importantly produce bottom line results.

Utilizing the skills learned in the Supervision Series program Essential Skills of Leadership, leaders and managers become effective and productive while encouraging their team members to work together and producing top line results.

The Supervision Series is designed to meet your training needs, your training budget and most importantly is available in three different delivery formats –classroom, blended, and online.

The program has other key modules, such as: Communication, Supporting Change, Delegating, Providing Performance Feedback, Developing Performance Goals and Standards, Resolving Conflicts, Managing Complaints, Effective Discipline, and Leading Successful Projects, to name a few.

Team Builders Plus offers a full-range of services, including all modules of mentioned above, that benefit Individuals, Teams and Organizations. If you would like to learn more about them, email Jeff Backal or call 856.596.4196.