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One Minute Manager
I recently got told to check out The One Minute Manager and was surprised to discover I've already been trying to do the things listed within. The principles are simple: Let people know what you expect of them, Let people know when they do something right, let people know when they do something wrong... and do it all within one minute.
I do stray from the book in one aspect, though. The One Minute Manager recommends that your reprimands be personal, stating how the coworker makes you feel when they fail to perform adequately. I think that this can seem confrontational. So when I have an issue with a particular behavior, I bring it up in shift meeting as a disembodied action... unattached to the person who performed it. This allows me to address the issue, rather than the person. I feel this empowers people. It makes them recognize they are part of a team, and the behavior is universally expected rather than singling them out as a bad seed.
What sometimes happens after I address an issue is that someone thinks it is cute and clever to re-personalize the issue. They will publicly fess up to the behavior and say, "That was me." This wouldn't be trouble if that was the end of it, but what invariably follows is a long list of excuses and partial justifications for a behavior I have just publicly stated is not acceptable. This turns my impersonal and simple one-minute goal session into a public and personal reprimand.
This does not make me happy, and more often than not, makes me feel as if the coworker is directly inhibiting my ability to do my job effectively. By subverting my attempts to cleanly address what is expected of the service staff, this person has made my work harder, aggrevated the relationship between management and staff, and turned policy into he-said/she-said. I sometimes wonder if you can see the hair on the back of my neck standing up during these times. I sometimes want to hiss like a snake and raise my hands like cat claws.
I want to be a good manager, but the restaurant industry is hell on me, sometimes.
I do stray from the book in one aspect, though. The One Minute Manager recommends that your reprimands be personal, stating how the coworker makes you feel when they fail to perform adequately. I think that this can seem confrontational. So when I have an issue with a particular behavior, I bring it up in shift meeting as a disembodied action... unattached to the person who performed it. This allows me to address the issue, rather than the person. I feel this empowers people. It makes them recognize they are part of a team, and the behavior is universally expected rather than singling them out as a bad seed.
What sometimes happens after I address an issue is that someone thinks it is cute and clever to re-personalize the issue. They will publicly fess up to the behavior and say, "That was me." This wouldn't be trouble if that was the end of it, but what invariably follows is a long list of excuses and partial justifications for a behavior I have just publicly stated is not acceptable. This turns my impersonal and simple one-minute goal session into a public and personal reprimand.
This does not make me happy, and more often than not, makes me feel as if the coworker is directly inhibiting my ability to do my job effectively. By subverting my attempts to cleanly address what is expected of the service staff, this person has made my work harder, aggrevated the relationship between management and staff, and turned policy into he-said/she-said. I sometimes wonder if you can see the hair on the back of my neck standing up during these times. I sometimes want to hiss like a snake and raise my hands like cat claws.
I want to be a good manager, but the restaurant industry is hell on me, sometimes.
Re: personal reprimands
Sounds like you're doing just fine using good old common sense.
Use this book for kindling at your next employer/employee bonfire.
Re: personal reprimands
That's what I meant to say.
another point of view
It's interesting for me to see your side of this. I have been in situations where the manager used this same technique. It did not have the effect you are expecting.
I've seen it not work because the person that performed the action did not recognize themselves as the example and therefore did not change the action. It appeared weak to the rest of us, like the manager wanted to avoid one on one conversation with this person.
I have also been the example before. When I hear for the first time that something I am doing is wrong in a group setting it make me feel insecure and defensive. I would much rather my manager tell me immediately what the expectation is when the action is observed, not in front of everyone days/hours later.
You can make something less confrontational by depersonalizing it. I think a manager should never say how they feel about something. So instead of "It makes me angry/disappointed/frustrated when you are late"...say instead factual info like "When you are late it effects everyone you work with because they have to pick up you slack or stay later than their shift" or whatever. They can argue with feelings but not with facts.
People are different and respond in different ways so I don't one style really applies across the board. I do know this. I am glad I'm not the boss. You are a saint :)
Re: another point of view
I can understand how depersonalizing problems might be viewed as weak. There are times when I feel like it *IS* a less intensive method for dealing with issues. But if you go back to the previous paragraph, I'm not always sure that doing things in a strong and aggressive manner is best for the environment. I'd prefer for waiters, when they have conflict between one another, to dispassionately release their frustration and talk to people about it calmly before or after the shift. With that desire, it seems most logical for me to act in the same manner. Since I try to view myself as a coworker more than a superior, I feel I should follow the same set of behavior standards that I set for the people that work with me.
Try this method:
Re: Try this method:
Re: another point of view