HRM Coaching Blog

Are certain people making life difficult for others at work? London Career Coach Hannah McNamara explains what you can do about it.

Problem behaviour at work affects everyone. It affects the people on the receiving end and it also affects those who are bullying and argumentative in the first place.

But how do you deal with it?

The first step is to take a pro-active stance, take command and control it in a positive way. It used to be that punishment was the only way forward and indeed some form of disciplinary action may be required. But prevention and support should also be provided, along with a strong and positive management style that will go a long way towards preventing such occurrences happening in the future.

Both coaching and mentoring have led to positive changes in such individuals, as they are offered practical and supportive solutions to change the behaviour that has so affected them and their colleagues. While it will take time to get back to a workplace which is more positive in nature, if you can provide leadership that everyone looks to for advice and support you will be setting the stage for that to gradually evolve.

It can be a tricky balance to present a face of management that is both firm yet supportive in the right ways, but it is vital to do so. You should also keep a close eye on how things are progressing and be prepared to meet with members of staff who have concerns or issues about any kind of detrimental behaviour they are experiencing at work.

Many businesses are now turning to neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to produce better results over both the short and the long term. NLP is designed to help you understand the behaviours of others from both audio and visual signs, and can therefore help in two ways. Firstly the offending member of staff will learn how their behaviour affects others in a detrimental way, and secondly they will also learn how to make positive changes that will help to eradicate the problem behaviour altogether.

As far as your role as a manager is concerned it is vital to ensure that you learn to identify problem behaviour as soon as it arises, rather than finding out about it from staff members. By providing a hands on management style you can learn more about how your team works and thus get to know your team a lot better than perhaps you do now.

By looking at long term solutions to problem behaviour rather than quick fixes, you will find that your team works in a more harmonious way as a result.

© Copyright Hannah McNamara 2008

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If you or someone you work with is having trouble with a difficult member of staff, or a co-worker, HRM Coaching can help. Call 020 7939 9910 in confidence and ask for Hannah McNamara or visit www.hrmcoaching.com.

Do you feel as if you don’t always get the results you want? If you are constantly struggling to get the best out of your staff, it could be your people skills that are the culprit.

Even though people in a job role are required to do what their manager asks of them, the way they are asked can have a lot of influence on how they actually carry out the request. It relates to the old ‘I’ll do it but I don’t have to enjoy it’ attitude.

A good way of making sure you get your team working for you instead of against you is to look at the title of this piece again and replace the word ‘persuasion’ with the word ’motivation’.

Now we have a different image – instead of seeing a manager trying to persuade someone who isn’t that interested, we see a manager motivating someone and upping their level of interest by doing so. That almost always leads to a desire to do the job that is asked of them and doing it to the best of their ability as well.

Motivating staff should always be a number one priority. People tend to mirror the attitude of the person they are speaking with, so if you come across as just wanting to get the job done without having any interest in the person who will be doing it, you can hardly expect to get a good job done in return.

Staff who have motivational bosses with good people skills tend to look on them for leadership and advice all of the time. If this isn’t the case in your office, try operating an open door policy and encourage members of your team to use it.

Staff motivation shouldn’t be an occasional activity that only gets rolled out when something needs doing. It should be an ongoing activity that helps to bolster confidence and drive the team forward. It helps to create a far more positive workplace, and you’ll achieve far more together as a result.

In this sense, although persuasion techniques have their place, motivation and interest in your staff should always take the upper hand. Of course you still need to maintain your position as manager, but provided the lines between you and your team aren’t blurred the motivational technique (with a dash of persuasion thrown in for good measure now and again) will reap rewards again and again.

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HRM Coaching in London, UK provides one-to-one and group Executive Coaching and Management Coaching helping professionals to be more effective at work. To find out more please contact us.

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Meetings are often the backbone of most managers’ days. But they have a habit of descending into a spiral of existing just for the sake of it, and can actually end up hampering productivity and performance instead of enhancing it.

Most managers tend to fall into two groups when it comes to meetings. Some love them and hold them frequently, while others avoid them like the plague. The reasons for the often strong reactions for and against meetings all make sense when you consider their uses and how they can be abused.

On the plus side meetings can help to promote a dialogue between co-workers, and bring to light any issues or problems that managers may not previously have been aware of. On the negative side meetings that are poorly planned or even unnecessary can waste valuable time that could be better spent doing something else.

It helps to have some kind of policy in place with regards to meetings – even if it is only for your own personal use. Some kind of regular meeting to touch base with your co-workers is always a good idea, but this should be held no more than once a week.

Every time you consider holding a new meeting, ask yourself what the purpose of that meeting is. Is there a new contract or job that your team needs to be properly briefed on? If so make sure you have time to prepare and set an appropriate time and date for the meeting to take place.

If on the other hand you simply need to alert your co-workers to some new general information, is there really a need to hold a meeting at all? A simple memo would probably do away with a significant amount of the smaller meetings that take place countrywide every single day.

The golden rule for planning any meeting is to ask yourself whether the time you will be taking away from the working day is better spent in the meeting. If it is then you know there is a need for it. If the answer is no, then at least you can stop short of planning a meeting that isn’t required.

For those meetings you do go ahead with, time should still be of the essence. Letting even the most vital meetings run on longer than necessary can be counterproductive. Making sure you stay focused and concentrate only on the subject in hand will help you to conduct better, faster and more productive meetings every single time.

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Planning a difficult meeting? HRM Coaching offers facilitation services which will help you to achieve your objectives for the meeting. We help you prepare and help you to chair the meeting so that all issues are discussed, everyone is heard and that time is not lost going round in circles or on unproductive discussions. Call Hannah McNamara on 020 7939 9910 to find out more.

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A recent article on the Human Resources Magazine website (http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk) pointed to the fact that workers in Britain’s best workplaces tend to be more loyal than those who work elsewhere.

But people have many different reasons for staying in a job for any length of time, and while we would like to think it’s because the company they work for is an excellent one, it’s often other more basic reasons which prompt a longer length of service.

Salary, security and laziness are probably the three top reasons why people stay in jobs longer than they intend to. How often do you hear people saying they want to look for another position – whether it’s within the same company or with new pastures elsewhere? And how many of those people actually start taking constructive steps towards achieving that goal?

It’s clear that people do react to how good their company is to work for however. Some companies put a great deal of time and effort into making sure they do all they can for their employees – from instigating flexible working arrangements to providing a wide selection of other benefits as well as a competitive salary.

As far as managers are concerned, it’s important to get the best workforce you can. We’d all like to think that a recruitment drive would bring in the best workers out there who are ideally suited to the roles and are dedicated to your company. In the real world however, things can be very different. Sometimes the best we can hope for is to get good workers who look at the hours and benefits we are offering and decide it will fit in with family life better than any other position they have seen.

In the final analysis, loyalty is really a two way street. For the co-worker to be loyal to the company they have to see that the company has their best interests at heart. For the company to be loyal to the co-worker they have to know that they are good at their job and they work efficiently and to the best of their ability.

In this sense loyalty and trust go hand in hand. When the company and the co-workers develop a mutual trust and respect of each other, big things can be achieved. Sadly this perfect vision doesn’t always happen in reality.

So what do those top companies which have succeeded at being Britain’s best workplaces know that the rest don’t? It’s usually the case that the best companies attract the best workers, in the same sense that you have to build the office block before you can fill it with employees.

It would seem that creating an environment which is beneficial for people to work in would be a small price to pay to achieve harmony and better results all round.

© Copyright Hannah McNamara 2008

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For more information on how to encourage staff loyalty at work, contact Hannah McNamara at HRM Coaching Ltd on 020 7939 9910 or visit www.hrmcoaching.com.

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An article dated 1st December 2007 on the Human Resources website http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk discusses the value of team building exercises, which still seem to be very much in vogue in today’s business world.

Many companies feel their employees benefit from these events, and that new and strengthened working relationships can be formed outside of the working environment.

As a manager it is important to bear in mind how some people feel about being put into these situations. However good you are at motivating your team and improving their performance overall, you will always come across one or two people who are not naturally comfortable with being put into a team building situation.

As the article suggests, it is the voluntary activities - such as the five a side football team mentioned – that seem to have the most positive impact on workers of all levels. No one performs well when they are forced to do something they dislike, especially when that means having to take part in an activity in front of their workmates.

Team building certainly has its place, but it’s important to organise a well rounded programme of events that has something for everyone. Rather than taking everyone out on a one off paintballing event, why not set up a football team, or plan an activity day where there are a number of different activities to choose from?

It’s not ideal to simply assume that everyone will be able to take part in a specific event, so if you have one day in mind for getting everyone together, make sure it’s either voluntary or you have different things for different people to get involved in.

Before the day itself, try testing the waters by issuing a questionnaire to your staff, asking for their opinions and suggestions for what kind of activities this day could include. Make this anonymous if you wish – after all it should be the comments which matter, not the people who make them.

You won’t be able to please everyone, but listening to people’s needs can help you to construct a team building day that will benefit most if not all of your team members. It also takes the important step of opening up a dialogue between management and workers, which will always help in building your knowledge of your team and how they work.

Perhaps the main benefit of team building exercises is gained not in the short term but in the long term, as you begin to gauge what kind of events your team members enjoy, and tailor future events accordingly.

With time and attention, team outings can prove to be the kind of event everyone looks forward to. If you don’t take part in any already, maybe now is a good time to start?

Here are some companies in London that we know well and are worth looking at:

Jelly and Custard - Events and Team-Building Activities

Top Corner - Sports Leagues

© Copyright Hannah McNamara 2007-8

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For more information on ways to motivate your people and build a real team spirit, contact Hannah McNamara at HRM Coaching Ltd on 020 7939 9910 or visit www.hrmcoaching.com.

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