Two Percent Improvement in Action

I signed off last weeks blog, by telling the story about sports caster and ex- tennis pro, Pam Shriver's two percent improvement analogy.

She said if a tennis professional could increase their skills by two percent, it could mean the difference between getting beat in the first round or winning the US Open Tennis Championship. In tennis, the two percent skill improvement could be applied to better first serve accuracy, fewer unforced errors and winning the 'big points' at crucial times.

So how can we apply it to management? And how can you track whether you are actually improving by two percent or not? Let's take each one of the vital functions of management mentioned in the previous blog and list some simple ideas for implementation, where you will actually be able to see and track, tangible improvements.

Planning: Conduct an annual strategic planning session and then hold weekly and monthly reviews for staying on track. How many times do people complain about meetings being a waste of time? They won't be if your team members have clear goals and action plans where they are contributing. A quick note here about the value of strategic planning in rapidly changing times. Some companies think they are exempt from such an exercise because their industry is moving so quickly. However, being able to make a strategic move on a moments notice, needs to be part of the planning process. When the change inevitably comes, the superior companies are not caught flat footed.

Organizing: Are you logistically strong? I was very fortunate to work with a sports psychologist in Montreal a few years ago. He told me that his expertise goes beyond training athletes in the psychology of winning and mental toughness. He went on to explain that one of the most important things he does, is helping players organize themselves, so that they can show up for a match, completely prepared to play. All outside distractions are eliminated so the player can focus on the day and moment of competition. This applies to you as a manager. One of your primary responsibilities is to ensure your people are in a position to win. While you need to be aware of employee excuses, you also need to make sure they have the skills and tools they need. Don't handcuff them from suceeding because you are trying to cut corners and then blame them afterwards for doing a poor job.

Staffing: Choosing good people and getting them in the right positions, is perhaps one of the most frustrating and challenging aspects of managing. Why is it that some employees can be dishonest, lazy and disrespectful, while others are willing to stand up and can be counted on for going the extra mile? Part of this is how they are hard wired and there is nothing you can do about it. But for others, you can lay out very clearly for them, what is expected to be done and to what degree. This is where clear standards of performance become such a critical part of a persons job. Are your people absolutely clear?

Delegating: This where your leverage for growth takes off or becomes bogged down. Managers and executives can be fooled into believing they have to continue to do lower pay off activities themselves because their staff is not competent. A simple exercise is to think through the next 10 things you need to complete and highlight those you would like off your plate immediately. Pick one or two employees that are suited to those jobs and spend a half day helping them plan and organize the work to be completed. (yes, a half day!) Then practise and become good at, the next three vital functions on our list. This is when and where your opportunity for real growth begins to take hold.

Supervising: Now you should start to see a pattern emerge among these vital functions. You can strategically supervise the work by conducting regular coaching sessions to keep your people involved. And while it's critical to hold them accountable, get their feedback into what can be done better and make sure you listen. You won't necessarily be able to execute on all their ideas, but listening will give your people more confidence in themsleves and in you as the manager.

Measuring: Simple but not easy is the mantra here. Sticking with this discipline can make a significant difference in your results because there is perhaps no other management function that helps hold your people as accountable. But you must be clear about what you are measuring and to what standard. A colleague of mine recently reduced the weekly phone call rate of their inside sales team because they were only focusing on the amount of calls they were making and not what was resulting. People do not get paid for activities, they get paid for results. So ensure you are measuring activity levels that have some kind of tangible, relevant result attached to it.

Reporting: If managers fall down in this vital function, all the previous efforts will fall apart, regardless if you are reporting up to your seniors or your people are reporting to you. On a consulting assignment a few years ago, Clear Moves helped a client make significant increases in sales, during a time when the bell weather stocks in their industry were getting hit very hard. The client was actually six months ahead of our target date for the increase but when the project was completed, the reporting of the sales teams activity stopped and so did the stream of 'found' revenue. (Since this experience Clear Moves has installed a two year, monthly reporting and sustainability program for managers and entrepreneurs to ensure they keep the momentum going.)

A simple two percent improvement in each of these vital functions every month is a simple, yet effective way to leverage your abilities and those of your team. Use the following reminder from the last blog, as a litmus test for you and your company: If analysts were speaking of you to potential investors, would they in fact be able to say 'We love the management team!'

Have a great week,

Kevin