Lessons From The Office: Part IV

I've come a long way over the years since I graduated from Fanshawe College. As a manager and software designer, I have developed some clear principles that guide my decisions. Some of these lessons were learned the hard way by failing in many ways, but some of these lessons were learned through different kinds of success. While I did learn a lot through other activities like leading small groups and worship teams at church, the majority of my training came from the eight years that I spent with AV-Base Systems. I will be eternally grateful to this company, and to Bert and Helen, for that period in my life.

Allow me to summarize a few more lessons...

Words are powerful, use them wisely.
Ain't just words. Sticks and stones will break my bones...

Focus on strengths, not weaknesses.
Focus on strengths, not weaknesses. Build people up and let them reach their full potential. Don't focus on chiseling away the rough edges or else we'll wear away even the good qualities.

Emotional bank account.
Emotional bank account. Positive reinforcement is necessary. Any teacher can tell you this. If we rarely speak to an employee, and the only time we do it we are negative, that employee will start to run the other way when they see us. And eventually they will run away from the company entirely.

Encouragement and recognition are crucial.
On a superficial level, we all know this. I always had trouble with this myself and I had to learn the hard way, as I discuss in detail in the links above. Beyond that, I also believe that real and tangible recognition is key. Personal compliments are good and public statements are great. However, if everyone knows you're amazing at your job and you never receive a raise, that can say a lot more than words. If everyone comes to you to deal with hard stuff at work but then the newbie that you're training has a starting salary that is more than yours, that means something. And if you're acknowledged as the "senior" something for day-to-day work but your job title does not reflect your role, that's a statement.

Talk to the people that are effected.
Consult with the people that will be effected by our decisions. Discuss the options with the people that have to implement them. Let them have their say and offer their experience and suggestions. Even the very best idea in the world, done for the very best of reasons, will frustrate the employees if we simply announce it by decree 'cause we're the boss.

Experience and expertise are supreme.
Being the boss doesn't mean that we're the best person to make every decision. It doesn't mean that we understand the issues and the big picture better than anyone else. Chances are, we will repeatedly make mistakes if we try to oversee an area that others actually handle on a daily basis. We need to rely on our best people to get the best results.

Learn from history.
High employee turnover rates are the most visible sign of problems, so pay attention to it. Whether people quit or they are fired, that means something. It indicates something about the working environment, the management style, the pay scale, etc. As this article notes, call centres average a 31% turnover rate annually while fast-food joints average a 123% rate. Don't we want to be better than those kinds of places? And most information technology companies probably don't realize that one lost employee can cost them about $34,100.00. Factor in job posting, interviews, training, new computers, newbie mistakes...it all adds up, though it's an invisible number that can be ignored too easily. Ignore history and we're doomed to repeat it.

Managers are the grunt workers.
This idea runs directly against common wisdom. A manager's job is to make the daily work of our employees as easy as possible. Cut through the red tape, deal with the meetings, get rid of the distractions, handle the irate complaints, give them the tools and training they need, etc. If we are not serving our employees then we are ruling over them. And everyone likes a good revolt...

Part I - Meaningful change is hard, meaningless change is easy.
Part II - We're all different. Use that to our advantage.
Part III - Good managers make others better.