Category Archives: Learning

Not the Way I Learned It

Leave a reply

Karl shook his head, laughing at my description. “No way,” he shouted. The rest of the class began to chuckle, a communal piling on.

“What?” I looked around the room. I know when people are laughing, that they get the joke. I know when people get the joke, learning happened.

“Here’s how you learned to use a spreadsheet,” I explained. “Your IT guy handed you a book and commanded you take it home. Reading cover to cover will make you an expert.”

Chortles and chuckle was all I got. Of course. “No one learned to use spreadsheet software by reading a book. You told the IT guy to take his book, and himself, and leave the room. By golly, you learned this software on your own, dinging at the keyboard, trial and error, you learned by doing.”

I stopped. The laughter turned to smiles, the room grew quieter.

“People learn in different ways. Some people learn best by doing. Yet most training seminars I attend are PowerPoint slides and a lecture. Tell me, how effective is the learning? How effective is the training that happens in your company?” -TF

—

Registration closes this Friday, September 22 for our next Management Program (www.workingmanagement.com). Registration closes on Monday, September 25 for our next Sales Program (www.workingsales.com).

Like a Little League Team

Leave a reply

It was a simple question. After all was said, I am not even sure Erwin expected an answer. We had been talking about accountability, specifically, how to train managers to hold team members accountable.

Erwin wasn’t sure that it was even possible. Perhaps he was becoming a believer.

The first step is building the connection. The second step is the model itself, the sequence of steps. The third step, aahh, the third step is practice. This is the step most companies miss.

“Bring them to a meeting, run them through a PowerPoint, answer a few questions. Boom. They should get it. Right?” Erwin was staring, not a blank stare, but a focused stare. Behind his eyes danced the hundreds of hours his company had spent training its managers.

“Was it a waste?” he finally asked.

“I can show you how to throw a ball, but if you want to get good at it, what do you have to do?” It was my turn to stare.

Erwin took a long time to respond. “Like a Little League team?” he quietly whispered.

“Like a Little League team. Most companies expect a high level of performance after a single pass in training.

“How do you teach accountability? The method is easy. It’s the practice that’s hard. In fact, most companies skip the practice, then wonder what happened.” -TF

Monday, July 24 is the kickoff day for our Working Management Series. We have four spaces left. For more information, follow this link.

Tour de France Update

You may have noticed we missed our TDF coverage yesterday. I was in a small township in Pennsylvania with a cobbled together internet connection. Just enough bandwidth to crank out a couple of emails, but not enough to post the update.

It was the second stage in the Alps, which brought out the real mettle. Mickael Rasmussen (DEN-RAB) had his way, true to his favorite form, by himself all alone. No sprint to the finish, as the contenders were already done many kilometers before. Even Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) was broken, dropped in a breakaway by Carlos Sastre (ESP-CSC) with 10km to go. Landis never recovered and lost ground to all the top riders, ending the day in 11th place overall, eight minutes behind.

But Thursday was different. Landis recovered from the dead, against all odds makers. In a calculated move, Team Phonak lead off the front of the peleton, following an escape of eleven. Once Landis had caught the yellow jersey, he pummeled forward to the chase group and picked them off one by one. He crossed the finish alone, almost six minutes ahead of Sastre and seven minutes ahead of Oscar Pereiro (ESP-CEI).

After all was said and done, it is these three separated by thirty seconds.

Overall Standings after Stage 17

1-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI -80hrs 8min 49sec

2-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+12sec

3-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+30sec

4-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+2min 29sec

5-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+3min 8sec

6-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+4min 14sec

7-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+4min 24sec

8-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+5min 45sec

9-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+8min 16sec

10-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+12min 13sec

11-SCHLECK, Frank -LUX-CSC –+13min 48sec

12-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+13min 52sec

13-CAUCCHIOLI, Pietro -ITA-C.A –+15min 46sec

14-CUNEGO, Damiano -ITA-LAM –+17min 18sec

15-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+17min 23sec

16-VALJAVEC, Tadej -SLO-LAM –+20min 50sec

17-RASMUSSEN, Mickael -DEN-RAB –+21min 4sec

18-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+22min 1sec

19-AZEVEDO, José -POR-DSC –+34min 1sec

20-ARROYO, David -ESP-CEI –+37min 11sec

It’s Something Invisible

Leave a reply

“This accountability model is more than just a way for the manager to talk about performance.” I was talking with Erwin about managers and accountability. I was talking about step two in this four part model.

  • Making the connection.
  • Creating the model.
  • Practicing the model.
  • Coaching the model.

“On the face of it, the model is just a sequence of steps, but it has to accomplish something invisible.” I stopped. Erwin furrowed his brow.

“Look, Erwin. Why don’t managers hold their team members accountable? It’s not because they don’t know how. It’s for a whole bunch of other reasons. Mostly, it’s fear; fear of confrontation; fear that the team member will quit; fear that the team member will respond negatively; fear that the team member may stir up trouble. The fear is invisible.

“But, the model has to face this fear. The model has to be stronger than the fear. If it’s not, at the first sign of stress, the manager will retreat into avoiding the accountability conversation.”

“And your model does that?” asked Erwin.

“Yes, it does. Do you want to know how?” Erwin grinned, his eyes grew wide and he leaned forward in his chair. -TF

—-

There are six spaces left in our management program that begins next Monday, July 24 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more information, please follow the link to www.workingmanagement.com.

—-

Tour de France Update

Even with a day of rest, the Alps took their toll. The finish staging area looked more like triage than jubilance. Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) regained the yellow jersey, but at what price. His consolation is that his muscle exhaustion is no different than the others.

This is the start of week three. At this point, the riders split. Some break down, the kilometers ravage the body that wants to quit. Others get stronger. The rigor hardens the muscles and disciplines the body to tap its reserves.

Today saw a breakaway of 25 riders early on. As they assaulted the steep climbs, the escapees were picked apart, one by one with Landis in control. He held back from the stage win, focused on gaining time against Denis Menchov (RUS-RAB), Andreas Kloden (GER-TMO) and Cadel Evans (AUS-DVL). It is likely to be one of those four in yellow on Sunday. The picture becomes clearer.

But there are two more days in the Alps. Everyone is tired. Some will be strong. Some will break.

Overall Standings after Stage 15

1-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO -69hrs 5sec

2-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI –+10sec

3-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+2min 2sec

4-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min 12sec

5-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+2min 17sec

6-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+2min 29sec

7-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+2min 59sec

8-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+5min 1sec

9-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+6min 18sec

10-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+6min 20sec

11-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+6min 22sec

12-SCHLECK, Frank -LUX-CSC –+7min 7sec

13-POPOVYCH, Yaroslav -UKR-DSC –+7min 36sec

14-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+7min 39sec

15-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+8min 23sec

16-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+9min 15sec

17-CHAVANEL, Sylvain -FRA-COF –+9min 56sec

18-MERCKX, Axel -BEL-PHO –+10min 25sec

19-PARRA, Ivan Ramiro -COL-COF –+10min 43sec

20-TOTSCHNIG, Georg -AUT-GST –+10min 53sec

Making the Connection

Leave a reply

“The point is to change the behavior,” I said. “The skill is easy to teach, it’s the behavior that’s difficult to change.” Erwin and I had been talking about how you go about teaching a manager the skill of accountability.

“So, how do you do it?” Erwin insisted.

“There are four steps to the process.

  • Making the connection.
  • Creating a model.
  • Practicing the model.
  • Coaching the model.

“Let’s start with making the connection. Before a manager considers any change in behavior, they have to make two connections. First, they have to understand why the behavior is valuable. And not just valuable in general, but valuable to them in their situation. For example, managers know they should hold their team members accountable, but they never sit down and think about the benefits when they do that. They never think about the impact to themselves or the impact on the team member.”

Erwin was nodding and listening.

“But worse, managers never sit down and think about what happens when they don’t hold their team accountable. This connection may be even more important. Managers don’t think about the impact to the team member when there are no consequences for their underperformance.

“So, we talk a lot about this, making it vivid and personal. That’s the first step.” -TF

Next Monday is the kickoff for our Working Management classroom series in Fort Lauderdale. Please follow this link to find out more.

Tour de France Update

Monday was a rest day. Tuesday brings the first of three mountain stages in the Alps. It will be a day of challenges. While Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) is in the best position among the top riders, his team may not be strong enough to protect him. Tuesday, look for a serious challenge from Mickael Rasmussen (DEN-RAB), last year’s King of the Mountain champion, in support of his teammate Denis Menchov (RUS-RAB).

Overall Standings after Stage 14

1-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI -64hrs 05min 4sec

2-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+1min 29sec

3-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+1min 37sec

4-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min 30sec

5-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+2min 46sec

6-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+3min 21sec

7-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+3min 58sec

8-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+4min 51sec

9-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+5min 2sec

10-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+5min 13sec

11-POPOVYCH, Yaroslav -UKR-DSC –+5min 44sec

12-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+5min 46sec

13-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+5min 55sec

14-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+7min 7sec

15-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+7min 8sec

16-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+7min 23sec

17-TOTSCHNIG, Georg -AUT-GST –+8min 16sec

18-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+8min 36sec

19-AZEVEDO, José -POR-DSC –+9min 11sec

20-SCHLECK, Frank -LUX-CSC –+10min 6sec

Head Trash

Leave a reply

“Standing in the classroom, it doesn’t matter what the subject is, first I have to deal with headtrash,” I said. We were locked in a discussion about learning.

“So, how do you teach a manager how to hold someone accountable,” Erwin repeated.

“It’s easy to teach someone the method. The difficult part is finding that part of the brain that keeps them from doing it. Most mismanagement comes from the manager sitting on a problem, not making a decision, not taking action.”

Erwin nodded in agreement. “I have seen that over and over.”

“The first step is awareness, identifying the reason for hesitation. Managers can come up with all kinds of excuses to avoid the necessary confrontation. That is where we start.” -TF
—
Coming soon is a new design for Management Skills Blog. We have been working hard to develop new programs for managers, both classroom and online. Follow this link to find out about our next management program beginning July 24 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
—

Tour de France Update

Out of the Pyranees and back into a couple of flat stages. Here the breakaways over the weekend were successful in shaking up the top contenders.

For Team Discovery (USA), they saw Yaroslav Popovych (UKR-DSC) come back from place 23 to place 11 in a stage win that also saw teammate Paolo Salvoldelli abandon the race after a crash.

Popvych is the only hope for Discovery with most forecasting either Floyd Landis (USA-PHO), Denis Menchov (RUS-RAB) or Cadel Evans (AUS-DVL) to take podium honors in Paris.

But we still have the Alps to go.

Overall Standings after Stage 14

1-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI -64hrs 05min 4sec

2-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+1min 29sec

3-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+1min 37sec

4-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min 30sec

5-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+2min 46sec

6-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+3min 21sec

7-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+3min 58sec

8-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+4min 51sec

9-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+5min 2sec

10-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+5min 13sec

11-POPOVYCH, Yaroslav -UKR-DSC –+5min 44sec

12-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+5min 46sec

13-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+5min 55sec

14-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+7min 7sec

15-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+7min 8sec

16-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+7min 23sec

17-TOTSCHNIG, Georg -AUT-GST –+8min 16sec

18-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+8min 36sec

19-AZEVEDO, José -POR-DSC –+9min 11sec

20-SCHLECK, Frank -LUX-CSC –+10min 6sec

Yes, But How Do You Train It?

Leave a reply

It was a fair question. We were talking about core management skills that companies don’t train.

“How do you teach a supervisor how to hold a team member accountable for performance?” asked Erwin. “I mean, it sounds good. It’s a great buzzword, but come on. I just don’t see how you teach it.”

“I get the impression, you think accountability is a skill that can’t be trained,” I replied. “Tell me, how important is it?”

“Well, it’s important, but I am just not convinced it is something that can be trained.” Erwin’s jaw was set.

“I can see your point,” I said. “That’s why most companies don’t train their managers to do it. They think it’s important, but they don’t teach it.” Erwin was skeptical, but I had his attention.

“There are really two parts to accountability,” I continued. “First, is how to do it, the steps, the method. That’s the easy part. The second part is tougher. It’s all about the head trash swimming in the brain of the manager. In teaching, I spend more time on that part than the method.

“Tell you what, Erwin, meet me here on Monday for coffee and we’ll talk more about both parts.”

—

We have been working hard on a new curriculum. Our next management program kicks off July 24, 2006, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Follow this link to find out more.

Tour de France Update

Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) is making his move. It was very deliberate Wednesday, to hang back, conserving energy for Thursday’s stage, minimizing the time loss and waiting to strike. His third place finish in Stage 11 gained him an 8 second time bonus which marks the current lead over Stage 10’s winner, Cyril Dessel (FRA-A2R). If Landis’ team can protect him through the next three stages in the Alps, he may keep the jersey into Paris.

This tough Stage 11 saw Discovery’s team crumble with George Hincapie (USA-DSC) dropping to 40th place gapping down 23:00min. Paolo Salvoldelli (ITA-DSC) is 24:00min behind Landis. Unless there is catastrophic chaos at the top of the heap, this margin puts both riders out of range of the podium. Only Discovery’s Yaroslav Popovych (UKR-DSC) has any chance and he is down 9:00min.

Overall Standings After Stage Eleven

1-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO -49hrs 18min 7sec

2-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+8sec

3-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+1min 1sec

4-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+1min 17sec

5-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+1min 52sec

6-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+2min 29sec

7-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+3min 22sec

8-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+3min 33sec

9-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+3min 44sec

10-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+4min 17sec

11-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+4min 26sec

12-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+5min 38sec

13-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+5min 39sec

14-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+5min 54sec

15-LANDALUZE, Inigo -ESP-EUS –+6min 33sec

Slowly or Quickly

1 Reply

From the Ask Tom Mailbag.

In response to Wednesday’s post Slow Down to Go Fast.

Question
So, how do you slow down if corporate says you also need to keep the numbers up? They say we need to retrain all these people on the new system, but we catch hell when we don’t meet last year’s numbers for today. It seems like they’re asking the impossible. Do they know they’re asking the impossible, but just don’t care? Morale is really being destroyed because of the stress of needing to train and also keep productivity up. Most of the staff wants to quit now. How do we turn this mess around?

Response
Any change in your system will cause the numbers to drop temporarily. So it really doesn’t matter whether you slow down to train or push people into a new system without training. The numbers will still suffer. No amount of yelling, pushing, manipulation will drive the numbers up. The only thing that will drive competence is PRACTICE. Your staff can practice slowly on a system they do not understand. Or they can practice quickly in a training environment.

You choose.

You will get little understanding from your manager until the numbers improve. They can improve quickly through training, or they can improve slowly while your people beat their heads against the wall. -TF

Training Before, Coaching After

2 Replies

Crystal was puzzled. I had thrown her for a loop. We had been talking about her training program for inbound phone operators. The training wasn’t working, but she was looking in the wrong place.

The skill was simple. Enter the data into the computer during the phone call, not after the call. They had the software in place, the training program was clear, with exercises, repetition and interaction.

The problem was after the training. Following the training, the operators were literally abandoned. They had been introduced to the skill, even performed the skill two or three times during the training, but afterwards, NOTHING. Only one day later, all the operators had abandoned the new process and were back to taking notes on paper during the call.

“Crystal, I want you to develop some practice sessions following the training. Create some scripts based on the ones used in training. Then have the operators practice, practice, practice.

“And you are going to have to take off your training hat and put on your coaching hat. Your training is only intended to get this process started. Before you let them go, you have to bring them to a level of competence. Competence comes through practice and coaching. Training comes before the behavior. Coaching comes after the behavior. That is where you will find traction.” -TF

Training vs. Coaching

Leave a reply

“Take a look at this training program,” said Crystal. “We have been over it a hundred times, tweaked it here and there, but quite frankly, it’s not working.”

“What happens when you do the training?” I asked.

“Everyone seems upbeat, like they understand. We even do classroom exercises, but it doesn’t seem to stick. Two weeks later, they are back to doing it the old way, with all kinds of excuses.”

“How much coaching do you do after the initial training?”

“Well, anyone who seems to be having trouble, we write them up and they go back to the next training.” Crystal was visibly upset as she described what happened. “Sooner, or later, they all get written up and so they all end up back in the training. We have had this software in place for eight months and they are still writing the orders on paper and putting the information into the computer later. Sometimes the paper gets lost or it takes them a day or two to catch up. We wanted real-time order entry, but we are nowhere close.”

“But there is no real coaching except for sending people back to the beginning?”

“Yes, and every time we go round, the push-back gets stronger. They seem to hate the training,” Crystal said, shaking her head.

“By golly, I think you have found your difficulty,” I replied.

“What do you mean?” Crystal was puzzled.

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with your training. We need to focus on the time following the training. Let’s spend some time looking at the behaviors that follow the training. I think that is where you will find your answers.” -TF

The Purpose Behind the Purpose

Leave a reply

“There is another benefit,” I continued. Bob and I had been talking about rotating his team members, having them take turns leading the weekly team meeting.

“This small responsibility tests their leadership skills in a safe environment. It builds the management skill of running a meeting. It prepares them for those occasions when you are traveling and unable to attend. But as they lead the meeting, what else does it do?”

“I am not sure what you mean?” Bob replied.

“At the same time you are training them to become better leaders; you are also training them to become better…?” I stopped. Bob was thinking hard, but it finally came to him.

“Once they are in the hot seat as the leader of the meeting, they get a better understanding of how they can be better participants in the meeting.”

“So, you are using these weekly meetings for two purposes. The first purpose is to communicate the important content of the meeting. The second purpose is to build better leaders and better participants. And that is what I expect out of you, as the manager.” -TF