Tag Archives: managers

Why don’t we reward good managers?

18 July 2014

{Note: My startup, Lighthouse, just launched its blog. If you’ve been enjoying my posts on leadership and management, follow me over to http://GetLighthouse.com/Blog and subscribe on the right sidebar to get every post.

Below is an excerpt from the first post there, “Why don’t we reward good managers?“}

We all know management is important, and yet, it has not changed the largely dismal outlook of management: 70% of American workers are disengaged. Poor management is largely to blame.

People don’t leave companies, they leave bad managers.

As I’ve spoken to managers and employees, it’s amazing how often I hear about managers that ignore their people, stifle their team’s efforts, and are totally unaware of the unhappiness of their employees. Unfortunately, this candor on their frustration is with me, not their employer.

Some of these issues can come up in 1 on 1s, if you have them often enough and you ask (many are afraid to volunteer such issues, especially introverts). If you miss those opportunities and they’re now leaving, you can do exit interviews to learn what went wrong, but that’s too late to help them. You are also unlikely to get straight answers in an exit interview; if an employee desires to leave on good terms, they have incentive to sugar coat things and find the most diplomatic reason to say they’re leaving.

Bad managers affect everyone.

Good employees work hard to produce, but they resent their manager if they’re not appreciated and treated well. When it happens to mediocre and bad employees, they will just shut down and under produce, creating dead weight on teams. Your good team members will eventually decide they’ve had enough and look elsewhere. In a competitive market, this will happen sooner than later.

Continue reading on the Lighthouse blog…

What to Expect When You Start Having 1 on 1s

27 June 2014

2 Comments

Ben Horowitz advocates for 1 on 1s. So does Marc Benioff, the team at Bufferapp, and many, many others. Yet, in many ways they’re still shrouded in mystery.

Some people see them as a waste of time. Others are unsure how to make the most of them. Ask 10 managers and you very well could get 10 different answers.

If you’re convinced to get started with 1 on 1s, and never done them before, you’re in for a few surprises. Here’s a few tips for what your should expect:

1) They are different than any other meeting

As a manager and leader, you’re in a lot of meetings. Probably more than you should. And in most of them you’re being asked to give your opinion, make decisions, and answer questions that all focus on driving the business forward. One on ones are nothing like that.

As Ben Horowitz suggests after he took some heat for his firm stance on the importance of having 1 on 1s,

“The key to a good one-on-one meeting is the understanding that it is the employee’s meeting rather than the manager’s meeting. This is the free-form meeting for all the pressing issues, brilliant ideas and chronic frustrations that do not fit neatly into status reports, email and other less personal and intimate mechanisms.”

It bears repeating: One on ones are all about the team member, not you nor the company. You need to flip your mindset to thinking about what’s important to them and how you can help. This context switch can be difficult, but the payoff is huge. Set the standard that you recognize that these meetings are different from other meetings and you’ll be on your way.

2) You will learn important things you won’t hear any other way

You may think you know your team really well. You may think you know everything they’re thinking about for work and have addressed all their concerns they’ve aired publicly. If you’ve put in some effort to listen to your team in a group setting, that’s a great start, but there is always more they’ll bring up privately in 1 on 1s.

As URX CEO John Milinovich recently said in his interview with First Round Capital,

“There will always be things that people won’t bring up in a community forum that are still so important to address, especially before they become bigger issues.”

Build a trusting environment in your one on ones and follow through on what you hear and you’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn people are thinking about or have concerns with. The more you act on what they confide in you, the more they’ll share that will improve the company, your team, your management, and them as an employee. For the introverts on your team, who are less likely to bring up any issues publicly, this will be especially important.

3) They should bring things to talk about, and so should you.

It’s easy to put the obligation on your team member to drive the 1 on 1. It’s definitely important to let them talk about things that are important to them. However, especially early on, you need to bring some questions as well.  There’s a ton of different 1 on 1 questions you can rotate through and you can also use 1 on 1s as great coaching opportunities.

As Jason Lemkin (CEO EchoSign, VC @ Storm Ventures) writes,

“You may think you know if you have drinks together, or go see movies together, or whatever…But you don’t.  Even if people complain in that context, it will be general complaints.  You won’t learn what your top people need to find their growth path at your company.  Where they feel stalled out and frustrated.  You have to ask.“

By mixing up the questions you ask, you will ensure you’re not missing anything they may be afraid to bring up.  You’ll also avoid 1 on 1s getting into a rut where certain topics become safe and easy, at the expense of never discussing any elephants in the room. You get out what you put into your 1 on 1s, so prepare, listen carefully, and follow through.

4) They may be a little awkward at first

Your first one on one won’t be easy. It can be especially awkward if you recently got promoted and now you’re having a one on one with a former peer. Fight through the ‘fight or flight’ urge to not ask the questions a manager should ask in a one on one. Those early questions will break the ice and give you your first opportunities to build deeper trust and rapport with them. Over time, you’ll get in a rhythm and build trust. Then you’ll probably even look forward to them.

Stick with them. The benefits are huge as Michael Wolfe (PipeDrive, Vontu, Kana) wrote,

“Over time you can build up a very good relationship with most people simply through this time investment. Even though you may need to discuss tough issues, try to build up enough trust and openness between you that you can enjoy solving problems and working to make the company better.”

It’s a relief when a problem at work is solved. If you form a real partnership with your team member to address the issues they bring up, they’ll trust and respect you more even if you don’t always give them the answer they want to hear.

5) You will quickly learn why this is a manager’s best tool.

The conversations in one on ones are the keys to understanding your people and motivating them.  Everyone has different drivers and idiosyncrasies; the better you understand them, the more effective you’ll be able to work with them.

As Ben Horowitz notoriously recalls when he almost fired two people over a manager not having one on ones,

“Being a good company doesn’t matter when things go well, but it can be the difference between life and death when things go wrong…and things always go wrong.”

Unfortunately, if you don’t do one on ones, Ben continued,

“…there is no possible way for him to even be informed as to whether or not his organization is good or bad.”

You can fix so many problems and improve the morale of everyone on your team with these meetings. You’ll find out about issues before they blow up. You’ll be able to help people when they’re struggling, and give them good and bad feedback regularly.  You can talk about career goals and growth opportunities regularly. Bit by bit you’ll see improvements across your company and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do them sooner.

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black_alphaWant help getting started with one on ones? Want to build a better relationship with your team members?

Lighthouse keeps you organized and prepared for everything that matters to your team members including goals and 1 on 1s. Learn more at GetLighthouse.com

10 Common Ways to Lose Good Employees

11 June 2014

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“I’m leaving. My last day is next Friday.”

I still remember the surprise when one of my old coworkers announced that to the company. He was one of the longest tenured members of the team and seemed content on the job. Little did I know he had a number of motivations for wanting to make a change that may have been avoidable.

The competition for talent is always high, and especially now you can’t afford to lose a good employee. Even the most loyal members of your team have breaking points that will make them want to look for a new job. And worst of all, when employees leave, it often happens in waves, meaning that you lose more than just one person at a time.

People leave bad managers, not jobs, which means as a manager, you have the power to prevent many of these losses to your team. Avoiding these pitfalls will put you well on your way to retaining your team.

Commons Ways to Lose Good Employees

1) Don’t Follow Through

I’ve written about this a number of times before and it bears repeating: not following through with commitments to your team will quickly build resentment. That resentment will lead to complaining amongst team members behind your back and a lot of frustration and distrust that can hamstring your team’s productivity.

What to do instead: Use a to do list or other system to track your commitments to your team to make sure nothing slips. If there’s something that prevents you from following through that’s beyond your control, be transparent with your team and help them understand why you couldn’t do it.

2) Don’t have 1 on 1s with them

If you’re not having 1 on 1s with your team, you don’t know what they’re really thinking. 1 on 1s are a huge opportunity to have a private line of communication with each of your reports. You can learn tons of different things based on the questions you ask in a 1 on 1, and fix a lot of problems before they blow up. There’s a reason Ben Horowitz was willing to fire a manager for not having 1 on 1s.

What to do instead: You may think you don’t have time to have 1 on 1s, but what you really don’t have time for is to lose your best people and have to go through the hiring process and covering for lost staff again. Get started having 1 on 1s at least once a month (ideally more) and use an app like Lighthouse to help you stay on top of them.

3) Ignore Their Ideas

Are your employees trying to tell you something? Do they see a problem you don’t? Do they have ideas to improve the way they work or a system around them? This is a gold mine of ways to make your company better and make your team happier. Yet, many ignore this and see people instead get frustrated by a lack of change in areas they think are important.

What to do instead: Use part of your 1 on 1 time to ask questions about ideas they have to improve the company, the team, and their own work environment. Take action when you can on those suggestions and explain why some things may not be possible right now.

4) Don’t Treat Them Like Adults

Do you trust your team? If you can’t trust them you may not have the right team. Good people, especially those with long tenures, expect some transparency into what is going on outside of the team. They also want to be trusted with their work instead of being micromanaged.

What to do instead: Trust, but verify. Give people the independence to do their job, but hold them accountable to the results you agreed upon. Trust them with information they want to know and make sure they’re keeping anything private you asked them to.

5) Under Compensate Them

Are you paying anyone well below market rate? Have some of your team grown in their roles and are now significantly outperforming their compensation? Have you moved a team member to a more expensive city without properly increasing their salary for cost of living? Any of these, as well as disparities in equity can lead to a lot of resentment. It can also tempt people to see what they’re worth elsewhere and by the time they have an offer, it’s too late.

What to do instead: Plan ahead for managing people’s compensation, especially for people taking on more responsibility. Your budget may be tight, but if you make incremental improvements you won’t wake up a few years down the line searching for a massive amount of money to adjust someone’s salary who has one foot out the door.

6) Don’t Praise, Recognize or Reward Good Work

Do you reinforce the good work done by your team? Do you tell them specifically why the work was great? If you don’t recognize good work, your team will not be as motivated to repeat those efforts again.  Mary Kay Ash, of the founder of Mary Kay cosmetics, put it best when she said:

“There are 2 things people want more than sex and money: recognition & praise.”          – Mary Kay Ash

What to do instead:  Take time to recognize people for great work. If it’s really awesome, recognize it in front of their peers. Also give them specific reinforcement over email and in 1 on 1s. As long as you are specific why you’re giving them praise, it will be well received.

7) Keep Bad Employees

Nothing frustrates good employees like working with bad ones. Bad team members make it harder for everyone else to get their work done, slow down progress, and lower the bar for the quality of work a team outputs. Bad team members can quickly turn a strong work environment into a toxic one either by their own work or due to how the team reacts negatively to them.

What to do instead: If you can, fire them. Your team will breathe a sigh of relief and you’ll find your team is more productive without them. If you can’t fire them, try to minimize how they impact others by putting them on work that they don’t affect as many people on the team.

8) Don’t Align Their Work with Their Goals

Do you know what the goals of your team members are? Does their work put them in line to accomplish those goals? Are they growing? If an employee isn’t achieving their goals, they will feel stifled and likely grow bored with their job. When a person’s job doesn’t help them achieve their goals, they’ll be motivated to look elsewhere to reach them.

What to do instead: Have conversations about goals in your 1 on 1s. Work to align parts of their job with these goals and make them feel like there’s a plan to help them achieve them over time. Apps like Lighthouse can help you manage and remember these.

9) Embarrass Them in Front of Their Peers

This may seem like an obvious one you would never do nor allow in your company, but it might have happened without you realizing. Ever casually call someone out across the office over a mistake or to make a joke?

I had a boss who wanted to prove that everyone (except me) cheated in school and proceeded to try to ask everyone around the office if they cheated. I think it was meant to be funny, but I remember how uncomfortable I felt then. Whatever it is, it can seem innocent, but even things you think are light-hearted can hurt people no matter what face they put on publicly.

What to do instead: Don’t be the one to do these sorts of things and shut down anyone you see doing it as well. If you’re treating your team like adults, then embarrassing peers is a childish behavior you should not tolerate. If it does happen, apologize and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

10) Don’t Help Them Make Progress Regularly

The feeling of progress is crucial to people’s satisfaction. They need to feel like they’re progressing on their work and that their work matters to the company’s bigger picture. When people aren’t making progress, they start to burn out. Nothing is more devastating to a great employee than burn out. It saps them of their abilities to be a productive, skilled team member.

What to do instead: Make sure team members have projects that are broken into small enough chunks that they can regularly make progress on them. Check in with them on their goals to make sure they’re making progress on them. Read more about progress on teams here.

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These are all hard lessons to learn, but the good news is that usually people leave for more than one reason. That means an occasional slip up will be forgiven, while breaking many of these will have your team looking elsewhere for work.

What are the behaviors you’ve seen cause good people to leave?

Get LighthouseWant help keeping your team motivated and turning down recruiting emails from friends and recruiters? Lighthouse was designed from the ground up with a workflow to help you follow the best practices of great managers.

Learn more and sign up at GetLighthouse.com