Book 10: Build Around What Works

1. Build Around What Works

When we examine how our business is run, we notice what functions and works for everyone, and what doesn’t. The key to a well-managed team is building around what works and encouraging growth with it. As managers or leaders we can try to change things that derail our employees from what they usually do. While this is normally done with good intentions, it can often lead to a kink in the company plan and actually have the opposite effect of what we were hoping for. Notice what is working for the employees now and how well they function. If changes are needed (or attempted), try to incorporate the current structure while leading the employees in the new direction.

2. Focus on Increases

As a leader, we often look at our task list in a negative way. One of the first things we try to accomplish is to decrease certain areas, such as mistakes, tardiness, and complaints. But focusing on what we want to decrease normally includes negative attributes of the job. If we focus on these things for too long, we can drive ourselves to negativity very quickly.

Instead, focus on what aspects can be increased. By focusing on what can be increased, we are focusing on positive attributes of the job, such as more sales, more goals, and more customer and employee satisfaction. If we approached an employee with the same problem, which route of improvement would they feel more confident taking – decreasing their typing mistakes or increasing their typing ability?

Encourage increases in different areas:

• Sales
• Moral
• Productivity
• Confidence

3. Recognize the Best in People

Another aspect of being positive is being able to see the best in people instead of being critical. Of course, no one is perfect and everyone has some kind of fault, but that does mean we have to define them by it. When we recognize the best in people, not only do we benefit from knowing what great attributes they can contribute, but it makes the employees feel more confident about themselves and their job skills.

4. Limit or Remove Negative Comments

Using negative terms and phrases is one of the leading causes of poor performance and low employee morale. These harsh words can damage any employee relationship and can often bring out a sense of defensiveness when approached. When you find yourself wanting to use negative phrases, either with yourself or an employee, stop and think of the words you’re using. Then rethink the sentence by removing negative comments and replacing them with a positive one. You’ll find that you can still get your point across without making the employee feel as though they are being attacked.

Remove comments such as:

• “It’s too hard.”
• “I’ll/You’ll never finish this.”
• “It’s too late to change now.”

5. Case Study

Michelle is managing a group of new hires in the medical records department. To help introduce them to the different processes and tasks they used in the department, she detailed what the other employees used, since it was most effective and made minimal mistakes. She didn’t want to offend the new employees, so instead of telling them what to stay away from, she reminded them of things they can improve on, such as filing speed, or their attention to detail. Although she knew these employees were new to the department, she could tell most of them had the right skills. She continued to work with them as they became more familiar with the way of doing things and stayed nearby in case they had any questions.